Department for Transport

Motor Vehicle Type Approval: Safety Measures

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what measures for improved vehicle safety he plans to prioritise for UK type approval.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made in establishing a UK system for vehicle type approval.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will implement the vehicle safety measures included in the General Safety Regulation that are entering into force in the EU and Northern Ireland from 6 July 2022.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he is planning for the UK to diverge from any of the vehicle safety provisions included in the EU's General Safety Regulation.

Trudy Harrison: Vehicle safety technologies continuously evolve and future priorities are expected to include a range of crash avoidance and injury mitigation measures.From 1 January 2021, an interim provisional type-approval scheme came into effect in Great Britain. Legislation for a full GB scheme for passenger and goods vehicles is being prepared and I expect to lay this before Parliament later this year. Further legislation introducing schemes for other vehicle categories, such as motorcycles, will aim to be introduced before the end of 2022.The package of European measures known as the General Safety Regulation includes vehicle construction requirements covering pedestrian safety and a range of additional new technologies. The Department for Transport was involved in developing these requirements, but as they apply from July 2022 it will be for the Government to decide whether to mandate the same systems in GB. No decision has yet been taken.The UK’s departure from the EU provides Government with the platform to capitalise on our regulatory freedoms. The vehicle safety provisions included in the EU's General Safety Regulation are currently under consideration. Government will implement requirements that are appropriate for GB and where they improve road safety.

Driving Licences: Applications

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the average processing time for applications for (a) provisional and (b) full driving licences in (i) 2021-22 to date, (ii) 2020-21 and (iii) 2019-20.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to improve the processing time for driving licence applications.

Trudy Harrison: The quickest and easiest way to apply for a driving licence is by using the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s online service. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their licence within a few days. However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application and the DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day. To help reduce waiting times for paper applications, the DVLA has introduced additional online services, recruited more staff, increased overtime working and has secured extra office space in Swansea and Birmingham. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example if medical investigations are needed. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here. The majority of applicants renewing an existing licence will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing the driver can meet specific criteria. More information can be found online here. The information requested on the average processing time for driving licence applications cannot be retrieved in the format requested in the time available. Officials from the DVLA will write to the Honourable Member when the information is available.

Buses: Driving Licences and Driving Tests

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the waiting period is for (a) a PCV theory test and (b) the granting of a PCV licence.

Trudy Harrison: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency offers a six-month window for people to book theory tests so people can book appointments at the time they choose. There is no backlog for theory tests as capacity is available for more people to book. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has focused extra resource on vocational driving licence applications. Routine applications and renewals of vocational licences, including passenger carrying vehicles, are being processed within normal turnaround times of five working days. Applications where medical investigations are needed will take longer.

Car Sharing: Carbon Emissions

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department is providing to help encourage the use of community car (a) clubs and (b) sharing as a means of tackling carbon emissions.

Trudy Harrison: My officials have engaged with various stakeholders to discuss measures to support shared mobility. Discussions focused on how the Government can begin implementing commitments in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, such as supporting zero emission car clubs and improving vehicle occupancy rates. We will soon publish a Local Authority Decarbonisation Toolkit that includes guidance for local authorities on car clubs and shared transport.

High Speed 2 Line: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the potential impact on cost, schedule and benefits of decisions made during parliamentary scrutiny of the HS2 Phase 2 hybrid bills is considered when making future decisions on the project as a whole, as recommended in the National Audit Office report, High Speed Two: A Progress Report.

Andrew Stephenson: Alongside introduction of the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) hybrid Bill, the Government published an update to the strategic outline business case for this phase. This also reflects the case for the HS2 scheme taking into account Phases One and 2a. Refined versions of the business case, published as the scheme develops, will reflect impacts of any changes made during parliamentary passage. Lessons learnt from changes made during parliamentary scrutiny on the previous HS2 Bills and as HS2 is being constructed, are being taken into account as this Bill progresses through Parliament.

Bus Services: Newcastle upon Tyne

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2022 to Question 110357 on Bus Services: Travel Information, when real time data from Newcastle was first available on the Bus Open Data Service; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for which there is no integrated real time data available in Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency.

Trudy Harrison: Since 7 January 2021, it has been legally required that operators of local bus services across England openly publish their bus live location data to the Bus Open Data Service.  Currently, 98% of vehicles are fitted with location data devices.Third party application developers are able to access this open data online via the Find Bus Data Service for inclusion in journey planners and applications, helping passengers plan their journey on public transport on their mobile phone or computer.In the North East, application developers such as Google Maps, Bus Times, Transit and Citymapper have been able to launch their journey planning products which include bus time arrivals utilising data from the Bus Open Data Service and integrates it into multimodal journey plans to enable passengers to plan their journeys on public transport.

Railways: Finance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Whole Industry Strategic Plan call for evidence, if his Department has a target for the balance of fare/fee and Government funding for rail in the next (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 30 years.

Wendy Morton: As set out in the plan for rail, GBR will set most fares, whilst funding for passenger rail services will be set at fiscal events. This will balance passenger and taxpayer funding for the railway.

Railways

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Whole Industry Strategic Plan call for evidence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on (a) passenger growth and (b) the UK’s decarbonisation targets of priorities in the plan on opportunities for efficiencies, cost reduction and prioritisation.

Wendy Morton: We have issued a public call for evidence on the Whole Industry Strategic Plan for rail to give anyone the opportunity to inform our development of a thirty-year strategy for the railway, including the potential trade-offs involved in meeting the long-term strategic objectives we have set. As the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail makes clear, customer experience and environmental sustainability are central to our vision for the future of the railway, and this is reflected in the strategic objectives.

Airspace: Finance

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to provide financial support for communities impacted by the airspace modernisation programme.

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to ensure that local communities that will be impacted by the airspace modernisation programme can access independent expert advice.

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is his Department policy for local communities to be able to access independent expert advice in regard to airspace change proposals.

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing financial support to local communities seeking expert advice on the impact of airspace change proposals.

Robert Courts: The airspace modernisation programme is a critical national infrastructure project that aims to deliver quicker, quieter and cleaner journeys to the benefit of all airspace users and those impacted, including communities. Engagement with all relevant stakeholders, including communities, is an important part of the airspace change process and is crucial to the success of the airspace modernisation programme. It is the responsibility of every airspace change sponsor (usually an airport or Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP)) to ensure engagement meets the needs of local stakeholders. CAP1616 - the Civil Aviation Authority’s airspace change approvals process - must be followed by all sponsors of airspace change proposals. This process gives communities the opportunity to comment on, and influence, airspace changes. Airport Consultative Committees should be consulted on all airspace change proposals where there is potential for a significant impact on the likely level of noise disturbance and are another way of engaging with communities. The majority of sponsors in the programme are currently at Stage 2 of the CAP1616 process. At this stage, each sponsor develops and undertakes an initial appraisal of the impacts of a number of different airspace options. We expect all sponsors to submit initial airspace change options to the CAA for sign-off within the next 12 months. Once approved by the CAA, each sponsor will move to Stage 3. It is at this stage that sponsors will undertake a full options appraisal before undertaking a formal public consultation with all interested stakeholders, including local communities. We expect that the majority of sponsors will be in a position to consult publicly from 2023 onwards. To ensure that consultation is meaningful and accessible to all stakeholders, advice on engagement has been published, and consultation documents and engagement plans will need to be approved by the CAA before consultation can begin. Through this and the CAP1616 requirements, there are suitable measures already in place to ensure communities are supported where appropriate.

Railways

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Whole Industry Strategic Plan call for evidence, what assessment his Department has made of the wider economic benefits of rail expansion and investment.

Wendy Morton: We have issued a public call for evidence on the Whole Industry Strategic Plan for rail to give anyone the opportunity to inform our development of a thirty-year strategy for the railway, including on how the rail sector can contribute to wider economic growth. My Department collects, assesses and publishes statistics and research on the wider benefits of the rail system to the country and to the economy, many of which are set out in the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail and in the evidence papers for the Williams Rail Review. In developing the Strategic Plan, we will draw on the widest possible evidence base.

Railways

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what processes he used to develop and prioritise the five strategic objectives for the Whole Industry Strategic Plan.

Wendy Morton: In developing the five long-term strategic objectives for rail that are part of our Whole Industry Strategic Plan, a wide range of methods and processes were used, including but not limited to drawing on existing Government policy, examining the recommendations of previous independent rail reports, evidence-based analysis of long-term trends affecting the future of the railway, and targeted engagement with experts on the future of the rail industry. The strategic objectives are presented in no particular order of prioritisation, and through our public call for evidence we hope to receive useful additional views from interested parties about how the railway can contribute to the long-term priorities of the country.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Job Creation: West Midlands

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support job creation schemes in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry and (c) the West Midlands.

Lee Rowley: The focus of Government intervention is to create the conditions for businesses to thrive, grow and create jobs. Local Enterprise Partnerships lead from the Government perspective on supporting businesses to innovate, improve, make progress and create jobs. For the financial year 2021/22 BEIS has provided £542,000 in core funding to the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP to support its Growth Hub. Between 1 April 2020 and 30 September 2021, the Coventry & Warwickshire Growth Hub self-reported that it reached over 52,000 business individuals (including via digital channels). This included supporting 3,303 businesses, including face-to-face support, of which 402 received high intensity support of 12 hours or more and helped 227 individuals start a business. In addition, Coventry and Warwickshire LEP has been provided with capital funding for a suite of infrastructure projects aimed at providing the right conditions for businesses to grow. £131.84 million of Growth Deal funding has been spent on projects that have improved transport infrastructure, improved broadband infrastructure, and provided new R&D business support facilities, and are on track to enable businesses to create up to 4,000 jobs alongside other benefits to the local economy. This has also included building new apprenticeship training facilities at Warwick Manufacturing Group, a new skills hub at Coventry City College, and delivering employment support programmes to ensure local people are able to take advantage of the jobs created by these interventions. A further £123.8m has been awarded to the regions LEPs and the West Midlands Combined Authority as part of the Getting Building Fund. This funding is now delivering a set of projects predicted to enable businesses to create over 7,910 new jobs and over 2000 construction jobs in the region. In Coventry, this has seen direct investment in the Very Light Rail project.

Business: Carbon Emissions

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making Scope 3 emissions reporting mandatory, rather than voluntary, in the TCFD regulation for UK businesses; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: In January 2022, the Companies (Strategic Report) (Climate-related Financial Disclosure) Regulations 2022 were made in Parliament. These Regulations require climate-related financial disclosures from certain UK-registered companies.

Heating: Hydrogen

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what analysis his Department has undertaken on the potential viability of using hydrogen for home heating.

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the recent Imperial College study, The Future of Home Heating, that concluded hydrogen infrastructure is not going to be viable for domestic heating applications at scale for at least the next 10 years.

Greg Hands: The Government plans to take decisions in 2026 on the role hydrogen could play in decarbonising heating. To inform these decisions, the Government isworking with industry and others on a range of research and development projects to help assess the feasibility, costs and benefits of using hydrogen in place of natural gas. These projects will also consider potential options for hydrogen infrastructure. The Government welcomed the study from Imperial College as a new contribution to the evidence base.

Drax Power Station: Carbon Emissions

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the amount of CO2 that is produced per Megawatt-hour by the Drax power station through the burning of (a) coal and (b) wood pellets in terms of (i) supply chain and (ii) chimney emissions.

Greg Hands: Data regarding the electricity generation in megawatt-hours derived from burning wood pellets and coal at the Drax Power Station is not available.

Energy: Carbon Emissions

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to incentivise and provide financial support to energy providers with low carbon emissions.

Greg Hands: Schemes such as Contracts for Difference are vital to developing domestic sources of renewable electricity in Great Britain, which will reduce exposure to potentially volatile global fossil fuel markets and protect consumers in the long term. The competitive nature of the Contracts for Difference scheme has been hugely successful in driving the deployment of renewable energy while rapidly reducing costs. This year’s Contracts for Difference round is the largest yet, with a total budget of £285 million a year allocated to the round; offshore wind will be supported by £200 million funding a year, with £24 million initially allocated for floating offshore wind and £20 million on tidal stream projects.

New Businesses: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the National Disability Strategy, published on 28 July 2021, when his Department plans to publish proposals to ensure that every disabled person who wants to start a business has the opportunity to do so.

Paul Scully: The Secretary of State has committed to publishing an Enterprise Strategy. This includes a focus on giving every disabled person that wants to start a business the opportunity to do so, including entrepreneurs with disabilities. The strategy is under development and will be published this year. Engagement has already taken place with disabled entrepreneurs and representative organisations, as well as with the relevant government departments.

Agency Workers: Conditions of Employment

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department is taking to (a) improve protections for workers paid through umbrella payroll companies and (b) secure the employee rights of those workers.

Paul Scully: The Government wants to ensure it has a detailed and up to date understanding of the umbrella company market and how it is continuing to evolve. Therefore, the Government launched a Call for Evidence on 30 November 2021, which is intended to complement the Government’s commitment to bring umbrella companies into scope of state enforcement.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme

Alyn Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the role of HMRC reference numbers was in the delivery of coronavirus Bounce Back Loans.

Paul Scully: Working with government, the British Business Bank introduced a turnover check for the Bounce Back Loan Scheme which used HMRC data to enable lenders to voluntarily verify whether turnovers provided by businesses on BBLS application forms were accurate. This was put in place from December 2020 and was one of a number of additional checks introduced after the launch of the scheme.

Electric Vehicles: Rural Areas

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 on people living off the electricity grid; and what assessment he has made of the support required by those people for the transition to electric vehicles.

Greg Hands: The Government wants to ensure everyone, including those without access to the electricity grid can still benefit from the transition to zero emission vehicles. The On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) is available to all UK local authorities to provide public chargepoints for their residents including those without access to the electricity grid.  Drivers may also choose to charge their vehicle at their workplace, or when they do their shopping. Government had already committed £1.5 billion to support the early market and remove barriers to zero emission vehicles ownership. Building on the £1.9 billion from Spending Review 2020, the Government has committed an additional £620 million to support the transition to electric vehicles. Government is also providing grants for homeowners, businesses and local authorities to install chargepoints and is also supporting the deployment of rapid chargepoints. The Government will provide £1.3 billion over the next four years to support the continued roll-out of chargepoints on motorways and major A roads, in homes and businesses and on-street. The forthcoming EV Infrastructure Strategy will also set out Government’s vision for the future of EV charging. A strong focus will be on the needs of those who cannot rely on off-street charging. Local authorities and Chargepoint operators should work together to provide sufficient levels of provision in order to meet demand.

Energy: Conservation

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the effect on energy efficiency over the next 10 years of electricity produced by (a) wind, (b) solar and (c) burning trees.

Greg Hands: Projections of renewable generation are taken from BEIS Energy and Emissions Projections: Net Zero Strategy baseline (partial interim update), Annex J – Total electricity generation by source, published 7th December 2021. BEIS does not publish a disaggregation of renewables sources.

Drax Power Station: Biofuels

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to move from burning 25 million trees per year at Drax to shorter rotation bioenergy; and whether Drax turbines are technically constrained by burning this alternative feedstock.

Greg Hands: The UK only supports biomass that complies with strict sustainability requirements and generators only receive subsidies for compliant biomass

Drax Power Station: Subsidies

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the (a) number of meetings between officials in his Department and Drax Group at which the issue of continuing subsidy payments to Drax beyond 2027 has been raised and (b) dates on which those meetings took place.

Greg Hands: UK Government officials meet regularly with businesses and stakeholders that are involved in renewable electricity generation. As a major renewable electricity generator in the UK officials meet regularly with Drax Group.

Power Stations: Biofuels

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to (a) the public purse and (b) each household of renewable subsidies to (i) the Drax power station and (ii) all power stations that burn biomass for energy.

Greg Hands: The Renewables Obligation and Contracts for Difference schemes support Drax and other power stations that burn biomass to generate renewable electricity. There is no cost to the public purse as both schemes are paid for by compulsory levies on electricity suppliers. In 2020/21, the total cost to suppliers in Great Britain of the support for Drax under the Renewables Obligation was £467.2m, and the cost for all power stations, including Drax, that burn biomass for energy was £914.5m[1]. Payments to individual biomass generating stations supported by the Contracts for Difference scheme are published by the Low Carbon Contracts Company on their Data Portal[2]. The Government does not assess the cost to individual householders of the support specifically for stations using biomass. [1] Support under the Renewables Obligation is through tradeable certificates. The figures, which are provisional as not all the certificates may have been issued yet, give the cost to suppliers based on Ofgem’s certificate report as at 14 January 2022 from their Renewables and CHP Register at: https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportViewer.aspx?ReportPath=/DatawarehouseReports/CertificatesExternalPublicDataWarehouse&ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=2 [2] The Low Carbon Contracts Company’s Data Portal is at: https://www.lowcarboncontracts.uk/dashboards/cfd/actuals-dashboards/historical-dashboard

Energy: Prices

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to help protect leaseholders of shared ownership properties who face high energy price increases where developers have enrolled those leaseholders in Community Energy Partnerships which are not regulated by Ofgem and not protected by the Government's energy price cap.

Greg Hands: The Default Tariff Act requires Ofgem, as the gas and electricity markets regulator, to put licence conditions in place for a cap on domestic default gas and electricity tariffs. District or communal heating systems typically buy their energy through commercial contracts which are not covered by the Act.

Offshore Industry: North Sea

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he is having with representatives from the North Sea oil and gas industry on that industry supporting the transition to net zero.

Greg Hands: The Government has regular meetings with stakeholders from the North Sea oil and gas industry on a wide range of topics, including the industry supporting the transition to net zero. The North Sea Transition Deal agreed with the industry in March 2021 will help unlock the UK’s net zero ambition, delivering part of a fair and equitable energy transition by allowing the UK Continental Shelf to transition to a net zero basin as well as supporting the decarbonisation of industries across the UK. This Deal is about harnessing the existing skills of the offshore oil and gas sector’s supply chain to help deliver new low carbon technologies such as hydrogen and carbon capture, usage and storage, helping the UK to meet its net zero targets.

Natural Gas and Oil: Companies

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which oil and gas companies attended the dinner he held on 16 November 2021.

Greg Hands: The Government has had meetings with energy suppliers and stakeholders during a period of high global gas prices. A record of Ministerial meetings will be published on the transparency register in due course.

Energy: Prices

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to help ensure that rising energy prices will not negatively impact the Government's green energy commitments.

Greg Hands: The rise in energy costs has been precipitated by unprecedented conditions in global energy markets. The Government recognises that the best protection from the volatility in global fossil fuel prices is to produce more renewable and low carbon energy.

Research: Private Sector

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January to Question 110349, what proportion of private sector leverage is considered highly successful; and what proportion of Innovate UK programmes achieve that.

George Freeman: The level of private investment generated varies by sector (including maturity), stage of research and type of R&D funding programme. It can therefore vary considerably across programmes.For Innovate UK programmes, , Innovate UK has invested £4 billion of grant funding and generated £2.3 billion of direct matched funding from businesses, since 01/01/2012. On top of this, evaluations show net additional follow-on private investment of between £1-£5 within 1-4 years of receiving a grant.Across Innovate UK’s core programmes, validated programme evaluations demonstrate a return to the economy of approximately of up to £7 for every £1, as well as spill-over impacts estimated to be 2 to 3 times larger.

Research: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he plans to take to increase the proportion of public and private UK research and development spend outside the Golden Triangle of Oxford, Cambridge and London.

George Freeman: Making the most of R&D in places around the UK is a key government priority. The 2021 Spending Review sees record levels of investment in the UK’s world-leading research base with public spending on Research & Development (R&D) increasing by £5 billion per annum to £20 billion in 2024-25. The substantial uplift to research and science funding will not only allow the UK to build on our core strengths but will also provide opportunities to grow research and innovation investment across the entire country. Further details of how this funding will be allocated will be announced in due course. The Levelling Up White Paper sets out how we will maximise the contribution of innovation to levelling up. This includes a new mission that, by 2030, domestic public investment in R&D outside the Greater South East will increase by at least one third over the Spending Review period and at least 40 percent by 2030, with that additional government funding seeking to leverage at least twice as much private sector investment over the long term to stimulate innovation and productivity growth. In support of this, BEIS has committed to invest at least 55% of its domestic R&D funding outside the Greater South East by 2024/25.

Innovation: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with local authorities and regional mayors on the devolution of innovation funding or other forms of innovation deals.

George Freeman: The Levelling Up White Paper sets out how we will maximise the contribution of innovation to levelling up by building on existing and emerging strengths across the country. We are committed to taking a place-based approach – tailoring support to the research, development and innovation strengths of different places and developing policies in partnership with local government, businesses and R&D institutions. New Innovation Accelerator pilots will support three places in the UK with world class research strengths to grow their local innovation clusters by attracting industrial R&D, creating new career opportunities and creating a more vibrant innovation ecosystem in the wider region. In addition to receiving bespoke support from the UK Government, a total of £100m R&D funding will be available to these places for projects between 2022/23 and 2024/25. Should these pilots prove successful, we will consider how to build on this approach in future. The policies in the Levelling Up White Paper have been informed by views from across the UK - including our R&D Place Advisory Group, which includes Local Enterprise Partnership, and Mayoral Combined Authority bodies - to understand how we can build on our excellence in research and innovation so that more people and places benefit.

Research: Investment

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of (a) the proportion of private sector investment which is outside of the Golden Triangle of Oxford, Cambridge and London and (b) how that has increased or decreased over the last decade.

George Freeman: Business expenditure on R&D (BERD) demonstrates the amount of R&D performed by UK businesses, and is the nearest for private sector investment. In 2020, the regions of Greater London, the East of England, and South East of England accounted for 55% of total UK BERD. Since 2010, BERD outside these regions has ranged from 45% - 49%, peaking at 49% in 2016. The Levelling Up White Paper sets out how we will maximise the contribution of innovation to levelling up. This includes a new goal that domestic public investment in R&D outside the Greater South East will increase by at least one third over the Spending Review period and at least 40 percent by 2030, with that additional government funding seeking to leverage at least twice as much private sector investment over the long term to stimulate innovation and productivity growth. BEIS has published a R&D spatial data tool (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/access-research-and-development-spatial-data) which allows users to access, visualise and compare indicators that show the scale of R&D systems at a subregional level over time. This includes metrics that proxy for private R&D and innovation and can be reviewed for all UK regions.

Innovation

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with which (a) local authorities and (b) devolved administrations his Department has discussed Innovation Deals.

George Freeman: The Levelling Up White Paper sets out how we will maximise the contribution of innovation to levelling up by building on existing and emerging strengths across the country. We are committed to taking a place-based approach – tailoring support to the research, development and innovation strengths of different places and developing policies in partnership with local government, businesses and R&D institutions. New Innovation Accelerator pilots will support three places in the UK to become major, globally competitive centres for research and innovation. In addition to receiving bespoke support from the UK Government, a total of £100m R&D funding will be available to these places for projects between 2022/23 and 2024/25. Should these pilots prove successful, we will consider how to build on this approach in future. The policies in the Levelling Up White Paper have been informed by views from across the UK - including our R&D Place Advisory Group, which includes Local Enterprise Partnership, and the Devolved Administrations - to understand how we can build on our excellence in research and innovation so that more people and places benefit.

Life Sciences

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of 11 January 2022, Official Report, column 415, what progress he has made on allocating the dementia research and development budget.

George Freeman: The Department for Health & Social Care will invest £375 million in neurodegenerative disease research over the next five years to fund projects into a range of diseases including dementia. Following the Spending Review, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy is currently working to set detailed R&D budgets through to 2024/25. Further details of how this funding will be allocated will be announced in due course.

Research: Investment

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much private R&D investment is estimated to be crowded in for each pound of public R&D spend; how that estimate is calculated; and whether that is dependent on (a) geography and (b) sector.

George Freeman: BEIS published “The relationship between public and private R&D funding” (BEIS Research Paper Number 2020/010) on 1 July 2020 at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-and-development-relationship-between-public-and-private-funding(opens in a new tab) carried out by Oxford Economics LtdThey estimated the monetary impact of the long-run leverage rate, suggesting that each £1 of public R&D eventually stimulates between £1.96 and £2.34 of private R&DThe study drew on OECD data for 41 countries from 1961 to 2017 with varying degrees of completeness.

Disability Aids

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy, published on 28 July 2021, what steps his Department has taken to date to challenge UKRI and other research stakeholders to use future innovation challenges to accelerate innovation in assistive technologies.

George Freeman: The future of any UKRI innovation challenge-funding is subject to an ongoing SR allocations process which BEIS is currently working through to set R&D budgets through to 2024/25. The work that UK Research and Innovation have undertaken to accelerate innovation in assistive technologies is set out in the National Institute of Health Research’s report on Research and Development Work Relating to Assistive Technology: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-and-development-work-relating-to-assistive-technology-2018-to-2019

Weather: Forecasts

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many of the 96 weather stations reporting to the Met Office recorded or forecasted 7 day average temperatures of (a) one degree Celsius or below, (b) two degrees celsius or below and (c) three degrees celsius and below between 1 November 2021 and 14 January 2022.

George Freeman: The information requested for the period 1 November 2021 to 14 January 2022 is contained in the following table:  Number of weather stations for which 7-day running mean temperature was observedNumber of weather stations for which 7-day running mean temperature was forecastone degree celsius or below94two degrees celsius or below1914three degrees celsius or below4834

Attorney General

Offenders: Mental Illness

Dr Kieran Mullan: To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the CPS in handling cases where the defendant has a mental health condition or disorder.

Alex Chalk: The CPS has made a number of recent improvements in its handling of cases involving defendants with a mental health condition or disorder, which has included new and refreshed training for prosecutors, and better information sharing with other criminal justice agencies. Every CPS Area also has at least one single point of contact (SPOC) for mental health, who provide advice and support prosecutors in making decisions on complex cases involving mental health issues. In addition, the CPS is also developing a mental health flag for its case management system, which will help to identify those with mental health needs and ensure that their cases get the specialist attention they require. This good work was recognised in a Criminal Justice Joint Inspection report published in November 2021.

Crown Prosecution Service: Apprentices

Dr Kieran Mullan: To ask the Attorney General, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the steps taken by the CPS to offer apprenticeship opportunities to young people.

Alex Chalk: The CPS has a strong record of outreach programmes to engage young people in its work, and to promote career opportunities, including through apprenticeships. The CPS has over 470 apprentices currently enrolled or waiting to be enrolled onto programmes across England and Wales, with 261 having started their qualification in the last 12 months. The CPS has also consistently met the Cabinet Office apprenticeship target, which aims to ensure apprentices represent 2.3% of the workforce. At the end of December 2021, apprentices comprised 4.1% of the CPS workforce.

Government Legal Department

Dr Kieran Mullan: To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Government Legal Department.

Alex Chalk: Within an ever-evolving and challenging context – which has included continuing to support the Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the negotiation of new international agreements, COP26, the Northern Ireland Protocol, the challenges around energy supply to name a few – GLD continues to provide first class legal services across Whitehall. Despite these pressures, GLD have continued to meet all three of the key performance measures they have agreed with HMT, reflecting their continued commitment to high professional standards and providing an excellent service to clients. Last year: 96.2% of GLD’s clients rated their services “good” or “excellent” in GLD’s annual client satisfaction survey; andGLD’s litigators again successfully retained their Lexcel Accreditation – the Law Society Practice Mark – an annual achievement since 2006.GLD is on track to recover the full operating cost of chargeable services to their clients.  Moreover, GLD’s performed well against the eight challenging priorities set out in their Business Plan 2021-22.

Proceeds of Crime

Dr Kieran Mullan: To ask the Attorney General, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Serious Fraud Office in recovering the proceeds of crime.

Alex Chalk: The SFO continues to perform well in recovering proceeds of crime. It has a specialist division, dedicated solely to proceeds of crime casework, including restraint and confiscation, civil recovery, and money laundering investigations and prosecutions. In 2019-20, over £13m in financial orders were obtained by the SFO. In 2020-21, over £7.3m in financial orders were obtained. Annual asset recovery figures published by the Home Office show that in 2020-21, the SFO recovered the fourth highest amount of the 100+ UK agencies that recover the proceeds of crime, and they also placed fourth over the entire six years that the data covers. This is a remarkable achievement for what is a relatively small organisation.

Crown Prosecution Service: Cheshire East

Dr Kieran Mullan: To ask the Attorney General, what assessment she has made of the performance of the CPS in Cheshire East constituency.

Alex Chalk: Recent performance data shows that the conviction rate for CPS Mersey-Cheshire in the Cheshire Police Force Area is above with national average, with 87.1% of prosecutions resulting in a conviction. As part of their ongoing Area Inspection Programme, Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) are currently conducting an inspection on the performance of CPS Mersey-Cheshire and will publish the report on the Area in the coming months.

Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his Answer of 10 January 2022 to Question 97125 on Coronavirus: Protective Clothing, how much of the total cost for items of personal protective equipment that were (a) not fit for use and (b) identified as excess stock was paid to companies which secured contracts via the high priority lane.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total cost to the public purse is of personal protective equipment procured during the covid-19 outbreak which had to be (a) repurposed and (b) resold after being found unfit for use in medical settings; and how much of that cost was spent with companies which were awarded contracts via the high priority lane.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health Services: Employment

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his oral evidence to the Health and Social Care Select Committee on 25 January 2022, Q12, when he plans to publish further details on the long-term workforce.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Breast Cancer: Surgery

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that funding allocated to tackle the backlog of elective cases addresses people who are awaiting delayed breast reconstruction.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Breast Cancer: Greater London

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the breast cancer care backlog in London.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health Services: Employment

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his oral evidence to the Health and Social Care Select Committee session on 25 January 2022, Q12, when he plans to publish the upcoming long-term workforce plan.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answers of 10 January 2022 to Questions 97125 and 98324, whether the estimate of 6.96 billion items that are not provided to frontline services includes the 303 million items of personal protective equipment which have passed their estimated expiry date.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2022 to Question 97125, how many of the (a) 3.4 billion units identified as potential excess stock and (b) 6.96 billion items that have not been provided to frontline services were purchased through the high priority lane; and what the total cost of those purchases was to the public purse.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients have been diagnosed with Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome in each of the last 10 years; and how many and what proportion of those patients had previously received a prescription for anti-psychotic medication.

Gillian Keegan: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health Services: Private Sector

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement of 10 January 2022 from NHS England on an agreement for private hospitals to support NHS capacity during the covid-19 outbreak, what the total financial value of that deal is; what estimate he has made of the number of patients that will be treated under the terms of that agreement; and what activities each private provider has been asked to undertake for the NHS.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Royal Shrewsbury Hospital: Accident and Emergency Departments

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time patients are waiting in ambulances before transfer to the Emergency Department at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

England Infected Blood Support Scheme: Hepatitis

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is provided to the people applying to the England Infected Blood Support Scheme for (a) hepatitis C stage 1 payments, (b) special category mechanism payments and (c) hepatitis C stage 2 payments in gathering the required medical records and other information.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

England Infected Blood Support Scheme: Hepatitis

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what evidence is acceptable to the England Infected Blood Support Scheme to support applications for (a) hepatitis C stage 1, (b) special category mechanism payments and (c) hepatitis C stage 2 payments.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

England Infected Blood Support Scheme: Hepatitis

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the criteria are for England Infected Blood Support Scheme registrants to be classified as (a) stage 1, (b) special category and (c) stage 2 for purposes of hepatitis C support payments.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Quarantine

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish any risk assessments carried out by SAGE and the UK Health Security or any other bodies on the potential impact of plans to remove the legal requirement for people who test positive for covid-19 to self-isolate on (a) people who are severely immunosuppressed and therefore less or not protected by vaccines and (b) formally clinically vulnerable people.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish any risk assessments carried out by SAGE and the UK Health Security Agency on the potential impact of the removal of covid-19 measures announced on 19 January 2022 on (a) people who are severely immunosuppressed and therefore less or not protected by vaccines and (b) formally clinically extremely vulnerable people.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors: Sexual Dysfunction

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of designating Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction as a recognised medical condition.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2022 to Question 97125 on Coronavirus: Protective Clothing, what the total cost was to the public purse of storage for personal protective equipment purchased during the covid-19 outbreak.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Abortion: Drugs

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that abortion pills sent to patients by post without an in-person consultation are taken by the patient for whom they were intended.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Abortion: Drugs

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of number of women who have had to be admitted to hospital after taking medical abortion pills supplied by post.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the written correspondence from the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston of 9 November 2021 on access to the HPV vaccine for males born before 2006.

Edward Argar: We replied to the hon. Member on 31 January 2022.

Social Services: Disability and Older People

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to support councils to deliver social care services for older and disabled people.

Gillian Keegan: We will invest £5.4 billion over the next three years to reform adult social care. This includes more than £3.6 billion to reform the social care charging system, enabling local authorities to move towards paying providers a fair rate for care and over £1.7 billion to begin improvements across the social care system in England.The provisional Local Government Finance Settlement proposes an additional £3.5 billion for councils - an increase in local authority funding for 2022/23 of over 4% in real terms. As part of this settlement, local authorities will have access to over £1 billion specifically for social care in 2022/23.

NHS: Internet

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS websites are zero rated and so accessible without internet data plans being charged; and which mobile networks that applies to.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with representatives of mobile operators on how long NHS websites that have been zero-rated during the covid-19 will continue to be zero-rated and so remain accessible without internet data plans being charged.

Gillian Keegan: In March 2020 we worked with Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three to secure free online access to the following websites:- NHS.UK;- 111.nhs.uk;- wales.nhs.uk;- nhsinform.scot;- nidirect.gov.uk; and- publichealth.hscni.net. We also agreed time-limited data provisions for Attend Anywhere, our main provider of video consultations. The provisions we made for access to the above websites and Attend Anywhere were temporary and concluded by the end of 2020.

Social Services: Food

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the existing regulatory framework for provision of religious and ethical diets in care settings; and whether the Government plans to review the regulations and guidance relating to diet in care, in the context of the White Paper, People at the Heart of Care.

Gillian Keegan: Local authorities should facilitate personalised care in line with their legal duties. The white paper sets out that personalised care should be the norm, where people have the choice, control and support they need to live independent lives, can access outstanding quality and tailored care and support and find adult social care fair and accessible.We expect care providers to be encouraged to allow individuals to take control over the way their care is planned and delivered, which includes dietary requirements and preferences where appropriate. We have no plans to assess the regulatory framework or review the regulations and guidance relating to diet in care.

Home Care Services: Coronavirus

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the policy of mandatory covid-19 vaccination for health and social care workers on the resilience of the domiciliary care sector.

Gillian Keegan: On 31 January 2022, the Government announced plans to revoke the requirement for workers in care homes and in the National Health Service and wider social care services to be vaccinated against covid-19. This is subject to consultation and parliamentary approval.Prior to this announcement, the Department’s impact assessment estimated that 29,000 staff would be unvaccinated by 31 March 2022, accounting for approximately 7% of the workforce.

Bereavement Counselling: Coronavirus

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on bereavement services in (i) Coventry, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England; and (b) steps he is taking across Government to support (A) bereavement services and (B) bereaved people.

Gillian Keegan: Since March 2020, the Government has provided over £10.2 million to mental health charities, including those offering bereavement support, due to the impact of COVID-19. We continue to work with bereavement services in England to ensure that these services are available and assess what further support can be provided to the sector.

Schools: Mental Health Services

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent professional mental health workers belonging to mental health support teams are supporting pupils in schools.

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the minimum requirements are for mental health support teams in relation to (a) the number of staff and (b) their roles.

Gillian Keegan: Data on the current number of whole-time equivalent (WTE) mental health workers in mental health support teams is not held centrally. However, mental health support teams will typically be made up of eight WTE staff. There are 183 teams now operational, covering approximately one million pupils in 3,000 schools and colleges. An additional 104 teams were commissioned in 2020/21, with a further 112 which began training in 2021/22. By 2023, 399 teams will be supporting almost three million pupils. The eight WTE staff within a mental health support team will usually include four WTE Education Mental Health Practitioners, three WTE senior clinicians or higher-level therapists, 0.5 WTE team manager and 0.5 WTE admin support.

Coronavirus: Travel

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to Answer of 20 January 2022 to Question 105579 on Coronavirus: Travel, when digital covid-19 recovery certificates will be available to people aged 12 and over.

Maggie Throup: From 3 February 2022, children aged 12 years old and over can access a digital NHS COVID Pass for international travel. The travel digital NHS COVID Pass will show evidence of prior infection or recovery for 180 days following a positive National Health Service polymerase chain reaction test and provide a record of COVID-19 vaccinations received. The pass is available via NHS.UK for those aged 12 years old and over and via the NHS App for those aged 13 years old and over.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to offer covid-19 booster vaccinations to people who are now immunocompromised but were not immunocompromised at the time of their second vaccination.

Maggie Throup: All adults in England aged 18 years old and over are eligible for a COVID-19 booster vaccination, including those who are now severely immunosuppressed but were not severely immunosuppressed at the time of their second primary dose.The Government accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) regarding the offer of a third primary dose and a fourth dose as a booster to eligible individuals aged 12 years old and over with severe immunosuppression at or around the time of their first or second primary vaccination. Individuals whose immunosuppression commenced at least two weeks after their second primary dose do not require a third primary dose at this stage but will be eligible for a booster dose following completion of their two dose primary schedule.

Immunosuppression: Coronavirus

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to communicate advice for immunosuppressed people to continue to work from home.

Maggie Throup: The Government has issued guidance for people whose immune system means they are at higher risk of serious outcomes from COVID-19. This includes advising people in these groups to work from home where possible or, where that is not possible, to discuss with employers what temporary arrangements can be made to reduce risk at work. The guidance is available at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-people-whose-immune-system-means-they-are-at-higher-risk/covid-19-guidance-for-people-whose-immune-system-means-they-are-at-higher-risk

Immunosuppression: Coronavirus

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of patients in hospital with covid-19 are severely immunosuppressed; and if he will provide a breakdown of their conditions.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of patients in hospital in critical care with covid-19 are severely immunosuppressed; and if he will provide a breakdown of their conditions.

Maggie Throup: This information is not held centrally.

Question

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has undertaken or commissioned research on the potential correlation between infant deaths and race and poverty.

Maria Caulfield: The National Institute for Health Research’s Policy Research Unit is undertaking a research study titled ‘Why are people from Black and minority ethnic groups more likely to die around the time of birth compared to white babies, whose mothers were born in the UK?’

Coronavirus: Research

Sir Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2021 to Question 38143 on Coronavirus: Research, what his timetable is for publication of the research funded by the National Institute for Health Research.

Maria Caulfield: Four of the eight projects have published at least one paper on their findings. We anticipate papers from the remaining four studies although we do not have a confirmed timetable for their publication.

England Infected Blood Support Scheme: Hepatitis

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the England Infected Blood Support Scheme will accept evidence that Hepatitis C was the cause of death or contributed to the death of a person for Special Category or Hepatitis Stage 2 applications.

Maria Caulfield: To apply for special category mechanism and hepatitis C stage 2, the individual must first be accepted as an England Infected Blood Support Scheme (EIBSS) hepatitis C stage 1 beneficiary. If an estate or a bereaved partner of a hepatitis C Stage 1 beneficiary makes a hepatitis C stage 2 application and the death certificate of the beneficiary demonstrates one of the qualifying medical conditions for the application, the EIBSS would accept this as suitable evidence. Special category mechanism applications can only be made by the infected individual.

Life Sciences: Innovation

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the contribution of (a) the use of advanced cultures of human cells and tissues, (b) artificial intelligence and organ-on-a-chip technology and (c) other new approach methodologies (NAMs) to tackling the seven great healthcare challenges referenced in the Government’s Life Sciences Vision; and what steps he plans to take to provide further support to those methodologies.

Maria Caulfield: In developing the Life Science Vision, the Government worked with global academic and industrial leaders to identify areas of scientific and research potential which could be harnessed to address the seven identified healthcare missions. Detailed implementation plans for the missions are now being developed. No specific assessment has yet been made of the contribution of the use of advanced cultures of human cells and tissues, artificial intelligence and organ-on-a-chip technology and other new approach methodologies. However, the Vision is being guided by the best available science and will take into consideration the potential contribution of the latest advancements in life sciences in delivering the healthcare missions.

Coronavirus: Screening

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of NHS lateral flow tests in response to Government advice for fully vaccinated contacts of a covid-19 case to take a daily lateral flow test for 7 days to slow the spread of the virus.

Maggie Throup: There is no shortage of lateral flow tests available. We are expanding our delivery capacity and lateral flow tests can also be collected at local pharmacies and some community sites, schools and colleges. We also have more than a thousand test sites in operation in the United Kingdom, including local and regional test sites and mobile testing units.

Health Services: Finance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to provide additional funding to (a) acute, (b) cancer and (c) elective care.

Edward Argar: We have committed £8 billion for elective services and increase activity across from 2022 to 2025. The Spending Review in 2021 also announced £5.9 billion to support elective recovery, diagnostics and technology over the next three years. The Elective Recovery Fund also provides £2 billion to aid the recovery of elective and cancer services.The Targeted Investment Fund of £700 million will also benefit 187 trusts and 785 schemes to expand the number of operating theatres and beds, including new day surgery units and investments in technology.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors: Sexual Dysfunction

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact the covid-19 outbreak on research into the (a) cause and (b) treatment of Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction.

Edward Argar: No assessment has been made. However, through the National Institute for Health Research, we have funded studies into sexual dysfunction and use of antipsychotic drugs or antidepressant medication. This includes a review to understand ways to manage sexual dysfunction if participants were taking antidepressant medication or antipsychotic medication.

Health Services: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the average NHS waiting times for people in York in the last 12 months.

Edward Argar: The median average time for patients waiting to start treatment at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust over the past 12 months was 11.35 weeks.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the effect on covid-19 transmission of requiring a negative covid-19 lateral flow test for entrance into venues.

Maggie Throup: Negative test results provide a level of assurance that an individual is not infectious when the test is taken and for a short time afterwards. The more recently a test is taken, the more assured an individual can be that any result is a valid reflection of their infectiousness.Overall, introducing vaccine or test certification helps to reduce risks in affected settings when compared with no intervention. However, it does not eliminate the possibility of infectious people attending or transmitting the virus in these settings so individuals should continue to exercise caution.Mandating vaccine or test certification has helped to ensure that settings that have experienced long periods of closure remain open. It was preferable to closing venues entirely or reimposing capacity caps or social distancing.On 19 January 2022, the Government announced the end of mandatory certification requirements to access certain settings. From 27 January 2022, venues will no longer be legally required to check the NHS COVID Pass as a condition of entry.

NHS Test and Trace: Disclosure of Information

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2021 to Question 79490 on Coronavirus: Screening, if he will (a) publish the NHS Test and Trace findings with the MHRA and (b) place in the Library a copy of those findings.

Maggie Throup: These findings are currently being reviewed and will be published later this year.

General Practitioners: Temporary Accommodation

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the British Medical Association's guidance for GP practices, what steps he has taken to ensure that people who have been moved out-of-area as a result of being placed in temporary accommodation are able to access consistent GP services.

Maria Caulfield: Individuals who intend to be in an area for more than 24 hours but less than three months can register with a general practitioner (GP) practice as a temporary resident. If the patient wishes to remain with the practice for longer than three months, they must apply to register as a permanent patient.A practice may also grant continued permanent registration to a patient who has moved outside of its practice area, provided the patient has not registered with another practice as a permanent patient. In addition, a GP practice should provide anyone who requires treatment which it regards as an emergency, or as immediately necessary, with that treatment free of charge, regardless of whether that individual is registered with a GP practice.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking with NHS England to help increase the number of eligible women attending routine breast cancer screening appointments.

Maria Caulfield: All National Health Service breast screening providers are now operational. NHS England and NHS Improvement have advised that breast screening offices are providing extra screening sessions and utilising open invitations to fully optimise available appointments. Providers are encouraged to work with Cancer Alliances, Primary Care Networks and NHS regional teams to promote uptake of breast screening and ensure as many people as possible can access services.

Dentistry: Finance

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the £50 million of funding for dentistry announced on 25 January 2022 will be recurrent funding.

Maria Caulfield: This additional funding is non-recurrent. National Health Service dentistry has been operating at restricted capacity during the pandemic, therefore this funding targets those who have been unable to access an appointment. The funding will secure up to 350,000 additional dental appointments for those most in need of urgent dental treatment. Children are being prioritised, in addition to people with learning disabilities, autism and severe mental health problems.

England Infected Blood Support Scheme: Hepatitis

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when an individual or their family can begin an England Infected Blood Support Scheme application for (a) hepatitis C stage 1, (b) special category mechanism payments and (c) hepatitis C stage 2 payments.

Maria Caulfield: We encourage individuals or families to begin an application as soon as they consider that they meet the criteria for that particular payment.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his timetable is for reviewing the recommendations on changing the qualifying age for free prescriptions in England to 66 years of age.

Edward Argar: The consultation on aligning the upper age exemption for free prescriptions with the state pension age closed on 3 September 2021. No decisions on the proposals have yet been made. We will respond to the consultation and announce next steps in due course.

Coronavirus: Screening

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will run a public consultation on reinstating the workplace covid-19 testing programme for businesses that have employees who cannot work from home but are not classed as critical workers.

Maggie Throup: We have no plans to do so. The offer of tests directly to most workplaces ended in England in July 2021. Employers are now encouraged to direct employees to order home tests from GOV.UK, collect from local pharmacies or order via 119. The introduction of these direct testing channels means that workplace testing is no longer required.

Travel Restrictions: France

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2022 to Question 88829, with reference to guidance published by the Consulate General of France in London on 13 January 2022, Health pass and vaccination in the UK, what assessment he has made of the effect of the UK Government’s decision not to introduce covid-19 recovery passes for under 16s on their access to the pass sanitaire when visiting France in circumstances where they have been unable to access their second dose of covid-19 vaccine.

Maggie Throup: From 3 February 2022, all children aged 12 years old and over can access a digital NHS COVID Pass for international travel. The digital travel NHS COVID Pass will provide a record of COVID-19 vaccinations received and evidence of prior infection and recovery. Proof of recovery is available 10 days after a positive National Health Service polymerase chain reaction test, for a total of 180 days after the test date. The NHS COVID Pass will be available via NHS.UK for those aged 12 years old and over and via the NHS App for those aged 13 years old and over. It will not be available via the travel NHS COVID Pass letter. Few countries, including France, require a vaccination or recovery status for under 16 year olds, as most consider under 16 year olds as fully vaccinated or accept proof of testing.

Tobacco: Taxation

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of introducing a polluter pays levy on the tobacco industry.

Maggie Throup: The Department continues to work with HM Treasury regarding tobacco taxation and revenue funding. This includes reviewing options to raise additional funds to support the ambition to be smoke-free by 2030.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Correspondence

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what his Department's average response time was to an enquiry from a hon. Member to the MP (a) hotline and (b) account management team in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.

Simon Hart: The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from MPs, either directly or on behalf of their constituents.The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales does not have an MP hotline and the Department does not have an account management team.The Department’s correspondence team does not hold information on the average response time to enquiries from MPs, as correspondence performance is monitored by the percentage of all correspondence responded to within the target response time set by the Department.Data on the timeliness of responses to correspondence from MPs and Peers for 2019 and 2020 is published on Gov.uk here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers.The Cabinet Office will publish data for 2021 in due course.

Department for Education

Unpaid Work: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy, published 28 July 2021, what recent steps his Department has to improve supported internships in England.

Will Quince: In the National Disability Strategy, we committed to supporting pathways to employment for learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including strengthening the Supported Internship Programme. We have recently announced investment of up to £18 million, aiming to double the capacity of this programme to help more young people with an education, health and care plan gain the skills they need to secure and sustain paid employment. We have also updated the Supported Internship Programme guidance, and through our contract/grant delivery partners in financial year 2020-21 we are developing a self-assessment quality framework for providers and helping local authorities to develop local supported employment forums. In addition, the Careers and Enterprise Company continues to encourage employers to provide work experience and supported internships for young people with SEND.

Primary Education: Sports

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2021 to Question 87719, on Primary Education: Sports, if he will outline his timetable for updating the School Sport and Activity Action Plan.

Will Quince: The government remains committed to the ambitions set out in the School Sport and Activity Action Plan and the department will publish an update to the plan later this year to align with publication of the government’s new sport strategy. This update will not only recover ground lost during COVID-19 restrictions but will boost momentum to deliver an action plan for all pupils regardless of background. The update will be backed by nearly £30 million a year to improve the teaching of physical education at primary school and open school sport facilities outside of the school day.

Social Services: Children

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children’s social workers who will have gone through the national assessment and accreditation system by the time of the scheme’s closure.

Will Quince: Around 1,100 practitioners and 800 practice supervisors will have undertaken assessment activity under the national assessment and accreditation system programme by the end of March 2022. The delivery model for the assessment and accreditation of child and family social workers is changing and will not continue beyond March 2022.The department is committed to embedding assessment and accreditation for child and family social workers, based on the post-qualifying standards, and we are continuing to work with the sector on a new delivery model.Our aim is to support social workers to continue to improve their practice by offering a coherent set of development and accreditation opportunities at key career stages. At the same time as developing a new delivery approach, we will take the opportunity to consider the place of assessment and accreditation within the post-qualification career pathways for social workers. This will be done in the context of any recommendations from the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, due to be published in spring 2022.

Apprentices

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have begun an apprenticeship in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.

Alex Burghart: Over five years of substantial reforms, we have made apprenticeships longer and better, with more off the job training and assessment at the end. We have introduced high quality employer designed standards, put funding on a sustainable footing through the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, and introduced the register for apprenticeship training providers to ensure apprentices receive high quality training.Care should be taken when comparing apprenticeship start figures across years, due to the impact of these reforms, and the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on employer recruitment.Apprenticeship starts for Coventry North East parliamentary constituency, Coventry Unitary Authority, West Midlands Region and England in the last 5 full academic years and the first quarter of the current academic year are shown in the table below:  2016/172017/182018/192019/202020/212021/22 [1]Coventry North East constituency1,3409801,010830760280Coventry Unitary Authority3,4002,4002,6102,2502,010790West Midlands60,33042,65045,67036,92036,13014,150England494,900375,800393,400322,500321,400130,200[1] August to October, reported to dateNote:Geographical breakdowns are rounded to the nearest 10, the England totals are rounded to the nearest 100.Total values for England include a small number of learners living outside England where a home address is not known.Source: Individualised Learner RecordGeography is based upon the home postcode of the learner.Further information on apprenticeship starts can be found in the apprenticeships and traineeships statistics publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships.

Vocational Education: Qualifications

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the impact on providers of the Department’s proposed timeline of one year for withdrawing funding for Applied General Qualifications.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to help ensure that education providers are supported in making changes to their curriculum offer that will be necessary following the withdrawal of funding for Applied General Qualifications.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has been made of the potential cost to (a) providers and (b) the public purse for the changes to providers’ curriculum offer that will be necessary following the withdrawal of funding for Applied General Qualifications.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to help ensure that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are not impacted adversely by the withdrawal of funding for Applied General Qualifications.

Alex Burghart: The department will continue to fund a range of qualifications similar to current Applied General qualifications that can be taken alongside and as alternatives to A levels where they meet new criteria for quality and necessity. These qualifications will continue to play an important role for students taking mixed programmes with A levels and to support progression to higher education in areas where there are no A levels or T Levels.Overall, we expect the impacts of our reforms to be positive because students will have access to higher quality qualifications in future, including new T Levels. This will put students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, in a stronger position to progress into further study or skilled employment. We are committed to supporting students to progress onto T Levels in future and have launched the T Level Transition Programme for those who are not yet ready to progress to a T Level but have the potential to succeed on it after some further preparation. We will also be exploring further through the upcoming consultation on study at level 2 and below what additional forms of support students may need to be ready to move onto A levels and other academic qualifications at level 3.The impact assessment published alongside the response to the level 3 review consultation recognises that there will be some cost to providers in implementing changes, but we have not made an estimate of the overall cost to providers of changes stemming from the review. The updated impact assessment published alongside the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill in October 2021 provided some estimates of costs of providers familiarising themselves with the new qualification categories. However, the most significant costs are likely to come from the implementation of T Levels and we have provided significant support for providers to enable them to switch. This includes over £400 million in capital funding to put in place the industry standard equipment and facilities needed to deliver the first four T Level waves, over £200 million to build capacity for industry placements delivery, and the launch of the T Level Professional Development offer, which has so far ensured that almost 8,500 teachers and leaders have the support they need to deliver T Levels well.Our reforms to the qualifications landscape are rightly ambitious, but we know that we would be wrong to push too hard and risk compromising quality. In November, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, adjusted the reform timetable to allow an additional year of T Level implementation before overlapping qualifications are removed. This extra year will allow us to continue to work hard to support the growth of T Levels and gives more notice to providers, awarding organisations, employers, students and parents so that they can prepare for the changes when they come in from August 2024.

Student Unions: Finance

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to publish an updated impact assessment including the impact of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill on students' union finances ahead of the Report Stage of that Bill.

Michelle Donelan: The government will publish an updated impact assessment for the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill to reflect changes made to the bill during its passage ahead of introduction in the House of Lords.

Pre-school Education: Coronavirus

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) financial and (b) other steps he is taking to help support nurseries and early years settings in (i) Coventry North East constituency, (ii) Coventry, (iii) the West Midlands and (iv) England facing disruption related to covid-19.

Will Quince: The government is providing unprecedented support to the sector across England. On 21 December 2021 an additional £102 million of financial support was announced as part of a discretionary grant to local authorities, alongside the hospitality, leisure and culture grants. It is up to individual local authorities to decide how best to use this funding, in order to support businesses which are impacted financially by COVID-19, but this can include early years (EY) providers.   In addition, the statutory sick pay rebate scheme (SSPRS) returned mid-January 2022 for COVID-related absences. This covers for up to two weeks per employee occurring from 21 December 2021 onwards. Employers will be able to claim regardless of whether they claimed under the previous scheme for the same employee. And, as well as access to the recovery loan scheme running until 30 June 2022, providers also have access to 66% relief on their business rates (nurseries discount) up until 31 March 2022. The government has announced a freeze to the business rates multiplier in financial year 2022-23, which will support all ratepayers, including EY businesses, ahead of the revaluation in 2023, and is a tax cut worth £4.6 billion to business over the next 5 years. Support is available to all providers within Coventry North East, Coventry more widely and the West Midlands, as well as across England.In terms of additional support to nurseries across England, including Coventry North East, Coventry and the West Midlands, we have also designed a recovery programme focused on supporting practitioners and leaders backed by £180 million of funding. Within this, £17 million is to deliver the Nuffield early language intervention to improve language skills in young children around the time that they start school, £10 million is funding a second phase of the EY professional development programme to provide further coverage of early language, maths and personal, social and emotional development training to EY educators. This recovery package also includes the £153 million of funding to build a stronger, more expert workforce, enabling settings to deliver high quality teaching and address the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the youngest children with a focus on the most disadvantaged areas.Within the £153 million, we will deliver a universal training offer, together with targeted support to leaders and practitioners, to create a more sustainable and self-supporting system, strengthen specialist expertise and leadership in the sector by boosting skills to develop children’s early language and maths as well as their personal and social development, improve the capacity of the EY workforce to support children with special educational needs, and train practitioners to support parents with home learning, which is one of the biggest drivers of early outcomes and future attainment.

Student Loans Company: ICT

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the Student Loan Company’s eQuote portal in (a) securing high quality student support services and technology from assistive technology service providers, (b) evaluating the extent that the quality of services both achieves and exceeds the minimum standards required to be allowed to bid and (c) adequately weighting the incorporation of factors aside from price in terms of the contracts recommended through the portal to customers.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Student Loan Company’s eQuote portal for securing student support services and technology from assistive technology service providers, what timescale is planned for the rollout of the tender procurement process that will replace the current interim eQuote portal.

Michelle Donelan: The e-quote system has been introduced as an interim measure to increase transparency of pricing and provide the department and the Student Loans Company (SLC) with improved access to data and information on the costs and supply of assistive technology. This is particularly important considering the concerns made public by the Competition and Markets Authority last year in relation to allegations of price-fixing of supplies to disabled students.There are a number of quality measures in place for the equipment and associated services procured through SLC’s e-quote portal. All equipment procured through the e-quote portal must meet the relevant specification set by SLC and the department. The department has also set out its expectations for the standards that assistive technology service providers should meet in a guidance document published here: https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/exchange-blog/2021/march/02032021-guidance-for-assistive-technology-service-providers-atsps/.In addition to this, SLC conducts a regular student satisfaction survey to identify any issues that students may experience so that they can be addressed.On the question of factors other than price, it is an essential criterion that the package of support quoted for meets the student’s needs and the relevant specification. Quotes are sourced only from suppliers who are registered with the department and are therefore required to comply with the standards referenced above. The system selects the most cost-effective solution once these requirements have been met, in line with SLC’s responsibilities for securing value for money for Disabled Students’ Allowance expenditure.On the question of the timeframe for the procurement, SLC is due to publish a Prior Information Notice on 4 February 2022 which will set out further details.

Higher Education: Fees and Charges

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Afghan nationals with regularised Indefinite Leave to Remain relocated under the (a) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (b) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme will pay (i) home fees or (ii) overseas fees in higher education in the UK.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Afghan nationals with Indefinite Leave to Remain relocated under the (a) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and (b) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme are eligible for student loans.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department provides to Afghan nationals relocated under the (a) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and (b) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme on applying for higher education in the UK.

Michelle Donelan: From 1 August 2022, people who have been granted leave under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), will qualify for student support and home fee status in relation to new higher education (HE) courses, if they have been resident in the UK and Islands since the grant of such leave. They will also qualify for advanced learner loans for further education courses. Students who qualify for leave on this basis will not need to demonstrate three years ordinary residence in the UK and Islands before the start of their course.Guidance for Afghan nationals applying for HE courses can be found at the following links:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/welcome-a-guide-for-arrivals-to-the-uk-from-afghanistan-on-the-locally-employed-staff-relocation-schemehttps://www.gov.uk/student-finance/who-qualifiesThis guidance is being updated to reflect the recent changes to HE student support for persons with leave under ARAP and ACRS.

Education: Children

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report presented to and debated at the Council of Europe entitled The right to be heard: child participation.

Will Quince: The government is committed to promoting and protecting children’s rights and recognises the crucial work of the Council of Europe. We value and endorse the report’s key message that every child has the right to speak and be heard.The government continues to actively engage with children and young people through its policy making and promotes the use of the children’s rights impact assessment across Whitehall, including the development of a children’s rights training package.We have proactively sought views from as many young people as possible as we prepare the UK’s United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of a Child state party report, which we will submit to the UN Committee in June.This has included:Circulating surveys on children’s rights through various children’s charities.Holding a series of focus groups with young people on a range of topics.Engaging with a number of boards led by children to help resolve issues affecting them, such as the Family Justice and Young People Board, who have provided useful insights of their experiences of the system.We also work closely with the Children’s Commissioner for England and welcome her work with children and young people, in particular, the big ask survey, which was distributed to all children across England and captured their views on their priorities for the future.

Pre-school Education: Coronavirus

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of early years settings that have had to relax staff to children ratios as a result of covid-19 related absences for (a) 0 to 2 year olds and (b) 3 and 4 year olds; and what assessment he has he of the impact of those changes on children.

Will Quince: The department does not collect data on the number of early years settings that have had to relax staff to child ratios.The statutory framework for the early years foundation stage (EYFS) sets out staff to child ratios to help ensure that there is adequate staffing to meet the needs of, and to safeguard, children. More information can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974907/EYFS_framework_-_March_2021.pdf.The government considers COVID-19 to be an exceptional circumstance in which the staff to child ratios set out in the EYFS can temporarily be changed, if necessary, for example to respond to COVID-related workforce absences.In all circumstances, any provider using flexibilities remains responsible for maintaining the quality of care and safety and security of children in the setting, as set out in paragraph 3.31 of the EYFS framework. Ratios should be guided by all relevant requirements and by the needs of individual children within the group.We are in continual contact with early years sector organisations through regular meetings and working groups, and are feeding those messages right into the heart of government.

Literacy and Numeracy: Teaching Methods

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will commission a professionally-led review of the effectiveness of the (a) phonics screening check in year one, (b) the autumn term phonics screening check in year two, (c) key stage 1 SATs in year two, (d) multiplication tables check in year four and (e) key stage 2 SATs in year six.

Mr Robin Walker: In 2017, the government carried out a consultation into primary assessment in England, with the aim of creating a settled policy in this area. The consultation received over 4,000 responses from a diverse range of backgrounds and specialisms, providing a broad and informed range of views that informed policy on the current primary assessment system. We are now reaching the end of the programme of reform to the current primary assessment system that arose as a consequence. As such, the department has no current plans to undertake further major reform.

Schools: Absenteeism

Bob Seely: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Centre for Social Justice’s report entitled Lost but not forgotten: the reality of severe absence in schools post-lockdown published in January 2022, what estimate he has made of the number of children who are absent from schools (a) by education authority and (b) who are eligible for schooling on the Isle of Wight as of 31 January 2022.

Mr Robin Walker: Overall absence data is collected in the termly school census collection and figures for January 2022 are not yet available at this time. Full year figures for the 2020/21 academic year will be available from 24 March 2022, including by amount of absence.The department currently publishes on-site attendance and COVID-19-related absence data at a national level on a fortnightly basis and at a local authority level on a half-termly basis. Data covering 31 January 2022 will be published routinely, on this basis.The latest published local authority level data ends in Week 50 2021. During the 2021 autumn term, at a national level, on average 89.8% of pupils were in attendance on-site and 2.3% were absent for COVID-19-related reasons. Over the same period, on the Isle of Wight, 88.5% of pupils were in attendance on-site and 2.9% were absent for COVID-19-related reasons.The full most recent national, regional and local authority data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.National level pupil data can be found in Table 1B of the underlying data files, whilst local authority data can be found in Table 1C.

Nurseries: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the impact of the formula for calculating Maintained Nursery Schools supplementary funding on discrepancies in that funding between (a) Barnet, Camden and Harrow, (b) Newcastle and (c) Westminster; and whether he has plans to reform that formula.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Early Education, NAHT, NEU and UNISON survey on the impact of covid-19 on Maintained Nursery School funding.

Will Quince: Maintained nursery schools are an important part of the early years sector, and they provide support for some of our most disadvantaged children. The government provides local authorities that have maintained nursery schools with supplementary funding, to enable them to protect maintained nursery schools’ 2016-17 financial year funding levels. As local authorities individually decided the funding levels of maintained nursery schools at that time, this means that there is a range of funding levels across the country.We have confirmed the continuation of maintained nursery school supplementary funding throughout the three year spending period, providing the sector with long-term certainty. For financial year 2022-23, we will increase the maintained nursery schools supplementary hourly funding rate by 3.5%, which is equivalent to the increase in the three and four-year-old hourly funding rates.The survey carried out by Early Education, NAHT, National Education Union and UNISON is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the maintained nursery schools. We continue to work closely with sector representatives to understand issues affecting them.

Girls' Day School Trust: Workplace Pensions

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has had discussions with Girls' Day School Trust on planned industrial action by members of the NASUWT and NEU over the Trust's plan to withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

Mr Robin Walker: The department has not had discussions with the Girls' Day School Trust about its proposal to withdraw from the teachers’ pension scheme (TPS).Independent schools participate in the TPS voluntarily and are therefore free to leave the scheme, following appropriate consultation with their staff and provision of alternative pension arrangements, if they wish to do so.

Pre-school Education

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) availability and (b) affordability of early years education and childcare in (i) Coventry North East constituency, (ii) Coventry, (iii) the West Midlands and (iv) England.

Will Quince: The department monitors the sufficiency of childcare places in England through regular telephone calls and email contact with local authority early years teams. We have not seen councils reporting any substantial place supply issues, and we have not seen a substantial number of parents unable to secure a childcare place this term or since early years providers re-opened fully on 1 June 2020. Coventry City Council, which holds the statutory duty to secure sufficient childcare places in Coventry North East, is not reporting any issues with childcare places at present, as is true for the West Midlands and across England.According to Ofsted data published on 30 November, the number of places offered by non-domestic providers on the early years register in the Coventry City Council area has remained broadly stable between August 2015 and August 2021. In addition, according to findings from the 2021 childcare and early years providers survey, across England, 7 in 10 group-based providers reported having spare places in their full day provision and almost half of childminders (49%) reported having spare capacity on average across the week. We recognise that the cost of childcare is a key concern for parents which is why the government has made an unprecedented investment in childcare over the past decade.We have spent over £3.5 billion in each of the past three years on our early education entitlements and the government will continue to support families with their childcare costs. At the Spending Review 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced additional funding of £160 million in financial year 2022-23, £180 million in financial year 2023-24 and £170 million in financial year 2024-25, compared to the current financial year. For financial year 2022-23 we will increase hourly funding rates for all local authorities by 21p an hour for the 2 year old entitlement, and, for the vast majority of areas, by 17p an hour for the 3 and 4 year old entitlement. This is for local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers and reflects cost pressures as well as anticipated changes in the number of eligible children.There is a substantial offer in place to support parents with childcare costs. In 2021, 328,700 children had a government-funded early education entitlement place for 30 hours, worth up to £6,000. Our 2019 Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents found that more than three quarters of parents (78%) reported having more money to spend since they started using 30 hours, and a third (33%) thought that without 30 hours they would be working fewer hours.The department continues to explore what more can be done to help parents access childcare which suits their lives, including that which is out of hours or before or after school. We are committed to working together across government to make our current suite of offers work as effectively as possible and ensure it delivers for those parents who need it.

Special Educational Needs

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the number of children with special educational needs and disabilities who are not in schools that adequately meet their needs; and for what reasons those pupils are not in suitable schools.

Will Quince: The information requested is not held. However, the department publishes data on the number of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and education health and care plans (EHCPs) awaiting provision once a year. Our last published figure in May 2021 for the number of children with SEND who have an EHCP who are not in schools and are awaiting provision was 1,460. We have recently announced an additional £2.6 billion over the next three years for school places for children and young people with SEND, more than tripling current capital funding levels to over £900 million by 2024-25.We are conducting a review of the SEND system and will publish proposals for public consultation as a green paper in the first three months of this year.

Pre-school Education: Coronavirus

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what responsibilities nurseries and childcare settings have to inform parents of positive covid-19 cases in those settings.

Will Quince: In the event of a person testing positive for COVID-19, childcare providers and nurseries should consider whether parents of children attending the setting and staff need to be informed of a positive case, taking account of factors such as known vulnerability. Education and childcare providers are best placed to decide how they wish to communicate this information but should not disclose any information that could result in an individual being identified.Education and childcare providers are not expected to trace contacts of a positive case. NHS Test and Trace are responsible for identifying close contacts. As in any other setting, NHS Test and Trace will work with the individual who has tested positive to identify any close contacts.

Special Educational Needs: Coronavirus

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to continue support for disabled adults whose EHCPs have ended during the covid-19 outbreak as a result of their age.

Will Quince: The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Code of Practice is clear that education, health and care plans (EHCPs) should be designed to support young people to make positive transitions to adulthood, with a clear focus on outcomes and the support a young person will need to achieve them.The legislative and funding arrangements for EHCPs do not allow for a plan to be extended beyond the age of 25. Instead, the local authority should ensure that the appropriate adult services have the necessary transition support in place for the individual young person, including through the statutory adult care and support plan which is designed to set out the type of support you need and how this will be given, and support to enable them to secure appropriate housing or link them to employment services.Young people who have previously had an EHCP and have reached the age of 25 may also be eligible for funding through the Adult Education Budget (AEB). The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to help them gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning.

Special Educational Needs: Coronavirus

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in the context of the spread of the Omicron variant of covid-19, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of support provided to SEND schools for (a) compensating support staff for overtime worked and (b) ensuring provision of training.

Will Quince: Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, schools have continued to receive their core funding regardless of any periods of reduced attendance. Schools have the flexibility to make their own decisions on how to prioritise their spending to invest in a range of resources and activities that will best support their staff and pupils. Schools will be able to use their existing budgets to help with the costs associated with COVID-19 related absences.The department re-introduced the COVID-19 workforce fund in the autumn term to provide financial support to eligible schools and colleges. The fund has been extended until spring half-term to cover the cost of term-time staff absences experienced between 22 November 2021 and 18 February 2022.We recognise that special schools, alternative provision, and special post-16 institutions are often more impacted by staff absences and are less able to manage these absences using their existing staff and resources than mainstream schools and colleges. That is why we have set a lower threshold for special schools, alternative provision and special post-16 institutions for short-term teacher absences. We have also been more flexible in our criteria for support staff claims in special schools and alternative provision in recognition of this critical role in these providers in particular.As well as covering funding for schools to employ supply staff to manage absences, the fund can also be used to increase hours of part-time teaching or education support staff, or to make amendments to support staff terms and conditions to enable them to take on additional responsibilities. Schools should give due consideration to workload and wellbeing and discuss any changes with the employee first.

Ministry of Justice

Magistrates: Sentencing

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of extending magistrates' sentencing powers to 12 months on (a) the number of defendants sentenced to imprisonment, (b) the average length of sentences and (c) the number of defendants remanded into custody.

James Cartlidge: The extension to magistrates’ court sentencing powers will allow for some cases, that would currently be sent to the Crown Court for sentencing, to be sentenced and processed in the magistrates’ court. By keeping more cases in the magistrates’ court, which has significantly shorter waiting lists than the Crown Court, cases may complete more quickly which may impact the prison population. This additional impact has been factored into our modelling and we have considered the additional prison places that may therefore be needed as a result. While we have considered the potential impact on the prison population and sentence length which will be explored in an impact assessment, we do not anticipate any difference in the proportion of defendants sentenced to imprisonment or to sentence length as magistrates will be appropriately trained and required to follow the same sentencing guidelines as judges in the Crown Court. We will of course monitor any impacts closely. This policy is not expected to affect pre-trial detention and so there will be no impact on the number of defendants remanded in custody. We are also legislating to include a power in the Judicial Review & Courts Bill which would allow the government to vary the limit on magistrates’ courts sentencing powers for triable either way offences so that they can be reduced back to 6 months if needed. This will help mitigate any risks associated with the extended powers.

Magistrates: Sentencing

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to stipulate that in cases where a bench may sentence a defendant to a sentence of over six months that there must be three magistrates sitting.

James Cartlidge: Magistrates are fully trusted to make sound legal decisions, supported by legal advisors. We are working with the Sentencing Council to update sentencing guidelines, and magistrates will receive training before their sentencing powers are extended. These increased powers will apply to District Judges and magistrates. District Judges will be able to sit alone, and magistrates will be able to sit as a bench of two or three, as is currently the case.

Magistrates' Courts: Standards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the current backlog is in the number of Magistrate's court cases; and how long it currently takes for a case to be heard in a Magistrate's court (a) nationally and (b) in York.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the backlog is in the number of family court cases; and how long it currently takes for a cases to be heard in the family courts (a) nationally and (b) in York.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the backlog is in the number of criminal court cases; and how long it currently takes for a case to be heard in the criminal courts (a) nationally and (b) in York.

James Cartlidge: The table below sets out the outstanding cases a) nationally and b) in York. Some of this data is available publicly through the hyperlinks in the table. Crown Court Magistrates’ Court Family Court (combined Public and Private, by child) Total Outstanding Across England and WalesData published in Table C1, in Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly.Data published in Table M1, in Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly.Data published in HMCTS Management InformationOutstanding cases in YorkData published in Criminal Court datasets received, disposed and outstanding toolFor York magistrates’ court, at the end of Q3 2021, there were 1,122 outstanding criminal cases (Extracted from Criminal Court Quarterly Statistics: Data and Analysis, Ministry of Justice).See attached table (Family courts statistics, Analysis and Performance, HMCTS (PQ 112618))We have interpreted the question about length of time for a case to be heard as linked to timeliness. Timeliness figures show the average amount of time (days or weeks) there are between an offence being committed and the corresponding case beginning its first listing (for the Magistrates’ Court) and its main hearing (in the Crown Court). For the family courts, timeliness figures show the average amount of time between a case’s receipt and its disposal. The table below sets this out a) nationally and b) in York. Crown Court Magistrates’ CourtFamily Court (combined Public and Private)Average Timeliness Across England and Wales (days)See attached table (Criminal court statistics, Data and Analysis, Ministry of Justice (PQ 112617, PQ 112619)).See attached table (Criminal court statistics, Data and Analysis, Ministry of Justice (PQ 112617, PQ 112619)).See attached table (Family courts statistics, Analysis and Performance, HMCTS (PQ 112618)).Average Timeliness Across York Cases (days)See attached table (Criminal court statistics, Data and Analysis, Ministry of Justice (PQ 112617, PQ 112619)).See attached table (Criminal court statistics, Data and Analysis, Ministry of Justice (PQ 112617, PQ 112619)).See attached table (Family courts statistics, Analysis and Performance, HMCTS (PQ 112618)). Table (xlsx, 78.0KB)Table (xlsx, 19.9KB)

Judges and Magistrates: Training

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to provide additional training to magistrates and district judges following the extension of sentencing powers.

James Cartlidge: Magistrates and legal advisors will be trained on how to use the increased powers in the coming weeks. This training will be supplemented by updates to the sentencing guidelines, which magistrates are bound to follow. Training for magistrates is designed by the Judicial College and delivered by HMCTS staff. To preserve the independence of the judiciary, the Lord Chief Justice (LCJ) has statutory responsibility for magistrate training.We fully trust magistrates to make sound legal decisions and we do not underestimate the immense value of the magistracy and the importance of their service to the country

Wills: Reform

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Law Commission on the date of the publication of that body's report on reforming the laws on wills.

James Cartlidge: We regularly discuss with the Law Commission the timeframes for reports which the Government has commissioned, and which the Commission has to prioritise in order to resource each law reform project appropriately. The Commission paused completion of the wills project following Government’s request for it to prioritise work on weddings, in the light of the pressing need for reform in relation to how and where people can marry. The Law Commission expects to return to the wills project later this year.

Powers of Attorney

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the meeting held between the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice and Member for Llanelli on November 20th 2018, what progress his Department has made in developing an electronic card, by which a person can demonstrate they have power of attorney.

Tom Pursglove: My department continues to work on modernising how lasting powers of attorney (LPA) are created and used by members of the public. Since the meeting in 2018, the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has launched its “Use a lasting power of attorney” service. This allows third parties such as banks and hospitals to check the details of an LPA digitally including who can legally act under the LPA. This removes the need for any physical LPA to be provided. Additionally, in July last year we published a consultation on modernising how LPAs are created and registered with the OPG. The consultation outlined proposals for how an LPA could be created digitally in the future. This work includes research with the people who make and use LPAs to understand what format they would want an LPA to exist in, in the future.

Courts: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the accessibility of York's courts.

James Cartlidge: HM Courts &Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is committed to ensuring our courts are accessible to all our users including those in York. In some circumstances cases may be listed into Leeds/Teesside to ensure certain access requirements can be met. HMCTS will provide reasonable adjustments for court and tribunal users with disabilities and takes steps to avoid treating people less favourably because of their disability. Court and tribunal users are encouraged to get in touch before a hearing to discuss any particular adjustments they may need. Various mitigations will be explored, depending on the support required. For buildings, adjustments may include use of video-conferencing from a remote site, ensuring venues have ramps or accessible toilets, lifts able to accommodate wheelchairs, or hearing loops. HMCTS also provides detailed information regarding accessibility for each of the three court buildings in York: York Crown Court; York Magistrates’ Court and Family Court; and York County Court and Family Court on GOV.UK. HMCTS encourages court and tribunal users to get in touch before a hearing to discuss any particular adjustments they may need. As part of our wider Reform programme we are modernising the way in which we operate. This will mean that fewer people will need to attend court, as we make use of technology such as video-conferencing and online services. We have rapidly expanded our audio and video technology capability in direct response to the impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19), enabling more remote hearings which reduce the need for people to attend a physical court building.

Legal Aid Scheme: Wales

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase the number of legal aid providers in Wales.

James Cartlidge: The Government has taken steps to review the long-term sustainability of the Criminal Legal Aid market across England and Wales. In 2020 we injected up to £51m per annum into Criminal Legal Aid, in areas of work that practitioners told us mattered the most. In December 2021 the report for the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review was published, which considered a number of issues including the sustainability of the whole Criminal Legal Aid system so that it can meet demand now and into the future. It is our aim to publish the Government response no later than the end of March 2022 alongside a consultation on our related policy proposals.In addition, MoJ continues to consider the provision of civil legal aid across England and Wales, recognising that we need to take a whole system approach. The department has been engaging with representative bodies and providers within the sector to increase our understanding of the challenges providers currently face. The Legal Aid Agency also continue to keep legal aid provision under constant review, ensuring access across England and Wales and taking immediate action whenever this could be threatened.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Legislation

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many pieces of (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation their Department has sponsored in each of the last 10 years.

Penny Mordaunt: The number of pieces of both primary and secondary legislation sponsored by Government departments could be calculated utilising publicly available information at the following link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/

Trade Agreements: Israel

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when the Government plans to open a public consultation on an enhanced bilateral free trade agreement with Israel; and if she will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK is strongly committed to our trade and investment relationship with Israel, worth an estimated £4.8 billion pounds. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister has committed to started talks to enhance and improve the UK-Israel Free Trade Agreement this year. Ahead of this, the United Kingdom has published a Call for Input on February 1st, to hear the views of businesses and wider society on how to improve our existing trade agreement with Israel.

Arms Trade: Export Controls

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2022 to Question 100569 on Arms Trade: Export Controls, if she will publish a copy of the impact assessment her Department carried out on the changes to the Military end-use control.

Penny Mordaunt: The impact assessment was an internal scoping document that contains confidential and commercially sensitive information. It indicated that the regulatory impact is less than the £5 million threshold below which a full Regulatory Impact Assessment is not required.

Trade Agreements: India

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact on the UK manufacturing industry of a free trade agreement with India.

Penny Mordaunt: On 13th January, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade formally launched UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, during her visit to New Delhi. An ambitious UK-India FTA could boost UK exports by up to £16.7 billion across a range of sectors, in the long run. This could serve to benefit all nations and regions of the UK. Our analysis shows that UK manufacturers could stand to benefit from an agreement, particularly in the automotive and electrical equipment sectors.

Elbit Systems UK: Export Controls

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will publish the full list of export licences granted to Elbit Systems UK since 2011.

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether any export licences were granted to Elbit Systems UK in 2014.

Penny Mordaunt: Elbit Systems UK Limited have had the following licences granted since 2011:Licensee/ExporterApplication TypeEnd Use CountriesGoodsRatingCase StatusElbit Systems UK LimitedSIEL (Permanent)Israelcomponents for military communications equipment, military communications equipment, software for military communications equipmentML11a, ML21a1Final (Completed) 25 Jan 2021Elbit Systems UK LimitedSIEL (Permanent)Israelbody armour, components for military communications equipment, components for military electronic equipment, military communications equipment, military electronic equipment, technology for military communications equipmentML11a, ML13d1, ML22aFinal (Completed) 13 Oct 2020

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Israel: Palestinians

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in Israel on reports of the firing of tear gas and sound bombs into Palestinian schools during class time in the West Bank; and if she will make a statement.

James Cleverly: While we recognise Israel's legitimate need to deploy security measures, we encourage them to deploy these in a way that minimises tension and uses appropriate force. We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation, including the treatment of Palestinian children. It is essential to have a strong and thriving Palestinian education system in order to provide opportunities, economic development and hope for the next generation.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Correspondence

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the average response time was for her Department to respond to an enquiry from an MP once an enquiry had been received by the MP (a) hotline and (b) account management team in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.

Amanda Milling: The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from MPs, either directly or on behalf of their constituents.The average speed to answer calls to the FCDO MP Consular hotline is consistently less than 30 seconds, with the exception of 2020, when the average increased to over two minutes, because of the COVID pandemic.The FCDO does not have an account management team. However, data on the timeliness of responses to correspondence from MPs and Peers for 2019 and 2020 is published on Gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers. Data for 2021 will be published by the Cabinet Office in due course.

Alexei Navalny

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the debate that took place at the Council of Europe between 24 and 28 January on the poisoning of Alexander Navalny.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The debate that took place at the Parliamentary Assembly to the Council of Europe on January 26 on the poisoning of Alexander Navalny was important and timely. We look forward to considering any recommendations that subsequently go to the Committee of Ministers. We condemn Russia's continued violations of human rights and curtailing of basic freedoms. We have repeatedly called on the Russian authorities to immediately release Alexey Navalny from his politically motivated imprisonment. We have also sanctioned 13 individuals responsible for planning or carrying out the attack on him. The UK welcomes the crucial work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on this and related issues.

China: Overseas Companies

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government has plans to update risk advisories for businesses operating in the People’s Republic of China regarding the risk of businesses having their trade subject to punitive sanctions issued by the Chinese government, in the context of recent trade sanctions issued against Lithuania.

Amanda Milling: The Overseas Business Risk service provides information on various risks in overseas markets, including China, and we intend for this information to support and guide businesses. The UK Government does not advise on, or undertake due diligence for individual companies.The UK is working with international partners to respond to China's economic coercive practices, including against Lithuania. Alongside our G7 partners we set out our concerns on 12 December. We also regularly call on China to live up to its international commitments and not engage in practices which seek to use economic means to harm the legitimate interest of other countries or their businesses.

Development Aid: Impact Assessments

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish the impact assessment that was carried out on the decision to reduce Official Development Assistance spending to 0.5 per cent of GNI in 2021-22.

Amanda Milling: The Government disclosed the Equalities Assessment to the International Planned Parenthood Federation as part of their Judicial Review claim. The Equalities Assessment was a snapshot in March 2021 aimed at predicting how spending decisions for 21/22 would impact protected groups. Having considered usual practices across Government, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has no plans to publish the overarching Equalities Assessment for Official Development Assistance for its spend in financial year 2021-2022. It is Ministers' views that if we were to publish all Equalities Assessments, it would have a chilling effect on the candour of advice officials prepared. We will set out our future ambitions on transparency in the upcoming International Development Strategy.

Afghanistan: Nowzad

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what Ministerial directions were issues by her Department in relation to the evacuation of animals from Afghanistan from the Nowzad charity.

James Cleverly: No Ministerial directions were issued by FCDO Ministers in relation to evacuating animals from Afghanistan.The decision to offer Nowzad staff evacuation was taken outside the FCDO.

Abduljalil al-Singace

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to raise the case of Dr Abduljalil Alsingace with Bahraini authorities and to secure his release from prison.

James Cleverly: We continue to monitor and discuss the cases of Dr Abduljalil al-Singace with the Bahraini Government as well as with the independent oversight bodies. We encourage those with concerns to raise them directly with the relevant oversight bodies.

Exports: Israel

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, on which date her Department most recently reviewed the export of British manufactured equipment to Israeli distributors for the purposes of monitoring any subsequent use in the demolition of homes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

James Cleverly: We do not collect this information. The UK is clear that in all but the most exceptional of circumstances, demolitions and evictions are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. On 19 January, I [Minister Cleverly] urged the Government of Israel to stop these practices. The UK regularly raises the issue of demolitions, confiscations and forced evictions of Palestinians from their homes with the Government of Israel, most recently with Israel's Ministry of Defence on 20 January and Ministry of Justice on 27 January.

Trade Agreements: Gulf States

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, in the context of the ongoing free trade agreement negotiations between the UK and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations and with reference to meetings between the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and high-level representatives of the GCC on 20 December 2021, whether human rights were discussed during that meeting.

James Cleverly: We never pursue trade to the exclusion of human rights. The UK has a strong history of protecting human rights and promoting our values globally and we continue to encourage all states, including our friends in the Gulf, to uphold international human rights obligations. A wide range of issues were discussed during the meetings with GCC representatives at Chevening House on 20 December 2021, including human rights.

Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether (a) she will be attending or (b) the UK will send Observers to the first meeting of states parties to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons from 22 to 24 March 2022 in Vienna.

James Cleverly: The Government does not believe the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will bring us closer to a world without nuclear weapons. The UK will not sign the Treaty and the Foreign Secretary will not be attending the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW, nor will the UK send Observers. The Government firmly believes that the best way to achieve our collective goal of a world without nuclear weapons is through gradual multilateral disarmament negotiated using a step-by-step approach, under the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Bahrain: Detainees

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the impact of the Bahraini legislation entitled Justice law for children and their protection from ill-treatment on preventing detention of children; what representations the Government plans to make to the government of Bahrain on (a) due process violations in respect of the detention of children in that country and (b) releasing children who have been detained; and what information his Department holds on the reported ongoing detention of six children in Beit Batelco in  Bahrain since 27 December 2021.

James Cleverly: On 1 February, the Public Prosecutor in Bahrain announced the detention of six children at a child protection centre following an assessment by a behavioural expert and referral to a judge in the Child Corrective Justice Court in accordance with the provisions of the Restorative Justice Law. We welcome the entry into force in August 2021 of the Restorative Justice Law for Children which specifically addresses Article 37 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and support Bahraini government efforts to ensure the law is fully and effectively implemented.

Bahrain: Human Rights

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the report by Human Rights Watch, World Report 2022, published on 13 January 2022, what assessment the Government has made of the implications of its policies of the findings in that report in respect of Bahrain; and what the Government’s assessment is of the independence of Bahrain’s oversight bodies.

James Cleverly: The FCDO uses a wide range of sources of information to reach its assessments, the latest of which can be found - including on the oversight bodies - in its annual Human Rights Report, published last in July 2021.

Somalia: Food Supply

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Humanitarian Response Plan Somalia 2022, published by UNOCHA on 20 December 2021, what proportion of the 4.6 million people in Somalia projected to be facing acute food insecurity by May 2022 her Department estimates will be helped by the £8 million support package for Somalia announced on 17 January 2022.

Vicky Ford: The UK is deeply concerned by the situation in Somalia. The Federal Government of Somalia has declared a 'humanitarian emergency', with 90 percent of the country now facing severe to extreme drought. The £8 million support package for Somalia that I announced on 17 January will help to improve health and food security conditions of at least 500,000 people, and limit displacement linked to worsening drought conditions in the country. We support the Humanitarian Response Plan published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and the UK is working closely with the Federal Government of Somalia, the UN and international partners to support an early and rapid response.

Mexico: Homicide

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her Mexican counterpart on the recent murder of several journalists in that country.

Vicky Ford: We are deeply concerned about the reports of journalists killed in Mexico in January 2022 as a result of their reporting on violence, corruption and criminal groups. Promoting media freedom and the protection of journalists remains a priority for the UK Government. In January 2022, the FCDO's Deputy Director of Democratic Governance and Media Freedom Coordinator visited Mexico to discuss the issues of violence against journalists and the threats to media freedom with the Mexican Government, journalists and civil society, as well as to explore areas of joint collaboration. We continue to engage regularly with Mexican authorities at ministerial, official, and state level to discuss and to support a broad human rights agenda in Mexico. Our Embassy in Mexico City works closely with the Mexican Government and civil society organisations on understanding and reducing the risks faced by journalists and human rights defenders due to their professions. For example, in 2021 our Embassy in Mexico City worked with UNESCO to support the promotion and protection of freedom of expression by supporting journalists through training to develop investigative skills for reporting.

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government plans for a Minister to attend the Global Fund's Seventh Replenishment Conference in the US later this year.

Amanda Milling: We congratulate the US in hosting the Global Fund's 7th Replenishment in the Autumn and look forward to receiving an invitation in due course. We will take a decision on attendance once we have been informed of the date and have received an invitation.

Hungary: Election Observers

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the forthcoming Hungarian parliamentary elections on 3 April 2022, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of Hungarian civil society organisations' request to the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Right for the deployment of a full-scale election observation mission.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The UK is committed to building a Network of Liberty that will put us at the heart of economic, diplomatic and security partnerships. Promoting democratic values is a key part of this, and election observation allows us to support democracies and strengthen democratic electoral processes around the globe, including in the OSCE region.We are considering our approach for the Hungarian General Election. Diplomatic observers from our British Embassy in Budapest observed the Hungarian elections in 2018 and 2014, and our Embassy will continue to work energetically with civil society groups in Hungary ahead of the elections this year. We are clear that independent election monitoring is vital for credible and inclusive elections.

Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when the Government will announce the latest round of funding for TB Reach.

Amanda Milling: Future funding, beyond our current commitments, will be determined as part of departmental business planning in line with departmental allocations announced in last year's Spending Review, and guided by the approaches set out in the Health Systems Strengthening Position Paper and Ending Preventable Deaths approach. TB Reach is a programme within the STOP TB Partnership, of which the UK is an active board member.

Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department plans to take to help end the global TB epidemic.

Amanda Milling: The UK is committed to tackling TB. This includes our funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to which we pledged £1.4 billion in the sixth replenishment (2020-2022). We also invest in TB research and innovation to help people access new TB treatments and diagnostics. Our health investments help countries affected by TB to build stronger and more inclusive health systems to address all causes of ill health.

British Embassy Kyiv: Repatriation

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many staff have been withdrawn from the British Embassy in Kiev as a result of escalating tensions with Russia in that region.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The decision to withdraw some Embassy staff and their dependants was temporary and it will be kept under close review. The Embassy remains open and will continue to carry out essential work, including providing consular assistance and support to British nationals in Ukraine.

Cuba: Demonstrations

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her Cuban counterpart on the arrest of peaceful protestors during the protests in 2021 in that country.

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her Cuban counterpart on the arrest of peaceful protestors aged under 18 during the 2021 protests in that country.

Vicky Ford: Many protestors including minors remain detained in Cuba following protests in July 2021. The UK Government has raised the ongoing detentions directly with the Cuban Government, both in London and Havana. We are clear that all Cubans should have the right to protest peacefully, and that detention must not be used as a tool to restrict freedom of expression, assembly, and religion. The UK was one of the first countries to call for the Cuban people to be allowed to express their views freely and peacefully following the Cuban government's response to the July protests. We are concerned that lengthy prison sentences are being handed down to discourage any further peaceful protests and that the Cuban Government refused permission for protests in November. We have also urged the Cuban Government to ensure transparency in judicial proceedings, and ensure appropriate conditions for those held on violent crimes charges. We continue to monitor the situation closely.

Haiti: International Assistance

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK is supporting the work of the Core Group in Haiti.

Vicky Ford: The United Kingdom remains deeply concerned by the political, social and humanitarian landscape in Haiti, and the entrenchment of the problems faced by the Haitian population. The complex challenges faced by Haiti can only be resolved by unified support for Haitian-led solutions.We welcome efforts underway to secure political consensus and join the international community, including the Core Group, in calling upon all political actors to work constructively in support of a peaceful, democratic solution for the Haitian people.

Israel: Palestinians

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what new steps she will take to help ensure that the Government of Israel ceases its destruction of family homes in the occupied West Bank.

James Cleverly: The UK is clear that in all but the most exceptional of circumstances, demolitions and evictions are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. On 19 January, I urged the Government of Israel to stop these practices.

Multinational Companies: Sustainable Development

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking with her international partners to encourage major multinational companies to become more sustainable.

Amanda Milling: We work closely with international partners and major multinationals to encourage them to become more sustainable. The UK government is a signatory to the 1976 OECD Declaration on International Investment and MNEs which adopted the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and has consistently supported the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We support codes of conduct, certificates and standards organisations which encourage businesses to be socially responsible, environmentally sound and help defeat modern slavery across their value chains.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and War Pensions

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January to Written Question 111659 on Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and War Pensions, whether the data required to establish how many applicants withdrew or did not take steps to progress their claim will be digitised as part of efforts to digitise War Pensions in the Veterans Strategy Action Plan.

Leo Docherty: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and War Pensions

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January to Question 111659 on Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and War Pensions, why the data required to establish how many applicants withdrew or did not take steps to progress their claim has not been (a) digitised or (b) stored centrally.

Leo Docherty: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence: Veterans

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces veterans have been employed by the civil service in his Department in each year since 2010.

Leo Docherty: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence: Veterans

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans applied to his Department using the civil service great place to work scheme over the nine month pilot; and how many of those applicants (a) received an interview, (b) were offered a job and (c) went on to accept a role and begin work.

Leo Docherty: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

USA: Visits Abroad

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the aircraft registration was of the RAF plane he used to fly to Washington DC on 11 July 2021; whether he used the same plane to return to London; and on what date he returned.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Afghanistan: Nowzad

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what Ministerial directions were issued by his Department in relation to the evacuation of animals from Afghanistan from the Nowzad charity.

James Heappey: As he said at the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee’s, the Secretary of State for Defence gave clear direction that the MOD evacuation should not prioritise animals over people. The Nowzad flight was privately chartered and took place after the UK evacuation effort had ceased. UK military planners were able to assist Mr Farthing with the clearances required for the charter to land at Kabul airport by making an introduction between the charter company and the air operations staff managing the flight access. UK military personnel also enabled access to the aircraft by providing safe passage through the airport gate. This assistance did not detract from the Op Pitting response and the MOD had no further role in the evacuation of animals, including on the Nowzad flight.

Ukraine: Antitank Missiles

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost is of the anti-tank weapons the UK is supplying to Ukraine; and who is paying for that cost.

James Heappey: The anti-tank weapons granted to Ukraine were provided from existing surplus stockpiles so the only direct costs to Defence were for transportation.

Sky Sabre

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many sky sabre batteries and launchers have entered service with the British Army.

Jeremy Quin: I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

National Flagship: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the National Flagship competition will be open to both steel and aluminium designs.

Mr Ben Wallace: The National Flagship programme remains in its Design Stage. No limitation has been placed on designers in respect of the material from which the vessel will be constructed. The onus will be on the successful bidders to demonstrate how their design can be delivered in the UK in terms of time and cost. The construction of the National Flagship will be subject to a separate competition.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to include British Embassy Life Support Contractors employed by KBR/TWG estates contractors explicitly in the eligibility criteria for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme.

James Heappey: Under Categories 1-2 of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy only current or former Locally Employed Staff that were employed by Her Majesty's Government (HMG) or who were contracted to provide linguistic services in support of UK Armed Forces would be considered eligible for relocation to the UK.There is some discretion under Category 4 of the ARAP to consider, on a case-by-case and exceptional basis, those who worked in meaningful enabling roles alongside HMG, in extraordinary and unconventional contexts, and where a responsible HMG unit builds a credible case for consideration under the scheme.Individuals may also be eligible for the Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) now up and running under the auspices of the Home Office. Through the ACRS, the UK will relocate up to 20,000 at risk Afghans so they can rebuild their lives in safety.

Ukraine: Royal Military Academy

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any members of Ukraine’s Centuria group received training at Sandhurst in the last three years.

James Heappey: The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) is recognised as a world-leading military training academy and has trained Officer Cadets from Ukraine since 1997. The Ministry of Defence has no record of any Officer Cadets ever being a member of Centuria Group during their time at RMAS.

USA: Europe

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of implications for (a) his policies and (b) the stationing of intermediate range nuclear warheads in Europe of the reactivation of the 56th Artillery Command by the US army.

Jeremy Quin: NATO Allies have been clear that we have no intention to deploy land-based nuclear missiles in Europe. The UK's nuclear deterrent, which has been assigned to the defence of NATO since 1962, will continue to be delivered by Royal Navy submarines carrying nuclear-armed Trident missiles and maintaining a continuous at sea deterrence posture.

Ministry of Defence: Assets

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 193 of the MOD's Annual Accounts 2020-21, publish January 2022, which assets were retired early; what the costs were of early retirement, broken down by programme; which programmes were cancelled early; and what the costs were of early retirement of those programmes, broken down by programme.

Jeremy Quin: Within the Ministry of Defence’s Annual Accounts 2020-21, an entry was listed as an advanced notification valued at £1.4 billion. Advanced Notifications are cases where formal sign-off cannot take place until all the work necessary to establish the validity and the exact amount of the loss has been concluded. The value of an advance notification is the best estimate and may change when the case is finally closed. A full breakdown of the entry referred to above is shown below and this reflects the estimate of asset impairment in the Department’s balance sheet associated with decisions to retire some in-service programme assets earlier from service over the next few years. The values reflect accounting adjustments and do not represent cash losses. These values will be further refined as part of loss case closure procedures. Programme£ millionTyphoon Tranche 1587.551C130J Hercules281.798Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicles (reflects in-service assets – write off of capability upgrade sustainment programme shown in cancellation item)189.762Medium and Light Helicopter Rationalisation99.773Mine Hunting Capability Vessels96.609Sentry Aircraft – retirement of remaining aircraft83.336Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Fort Austin and Rosalie44.250Type 23 Frigates - 2 oldest vessels36.180Chinook Mk420.040Hawk Tranche 10.482Total:£1,439.781 The decisions taken as a result of the Integrated Review reflect the Department’s seriousness in investing in Defence modernisation to ensure the UK Armed Forces have the relevant capabilities to face today’s threats. That means taking tough decisions to replace old equipment and halt programmes that no longer fit requirements.

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and War Pensions

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the percentage of claims that were (a) accepted resulting in reward payment and (b) rejected by the (ii) Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and (ii) War Pensions in each year since 2010.

Leo Docherty: The proportion of disablement claims which were rejected or awarded financially, of those cleared under the War Pension Scheme (WPS) in each financial year (FY) from 2009-10 to 2020-21 is presented in Table 1.Table 1: Disablement claims under the War Pension Scheme, by outcome and financial year1, percentages1 April 2009 – 31 March 2021FY2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15Accepted - Financial Award256%60%62%60%57%61%Rejected335%32%31%30%32%29%FY2015-162016-172017-182018-192019-202020-21Accepted - Financial Award261%61%60%60%54%56%Rejected330%31%32%32%38%37% Source: War Pension Computer System (WPCS) 1. By financial year of claim cleared (i.e. a decision was made).2. Claims accepted - Financial Award includes claims awarded a disablement percentage of 1-100%, an unknown % or an increased assessment.3. Claims rejected includes claims rejected and maintained assessments4. Claims can also have an outcome of a reduced assessment or be accepted without resulting in a financial award therefore, percentages may not add up to 100%. The proportion of injury/illness claims which were rejected or awarded financially, of those registered under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) in each financial year from 2009/10 to 2020/21 is presented in Table 2. Table 2: Injury/Illness claims under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, by outcome and financial year1, percentages21 April 2009 – 31 March 2021FY2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15Accepted - Financial Award362%64%66%64%61%63%Rejected30%29%24%24%24%22%FY2015-162016-172017-182018-192019-202020-21Accepted - Financial Award361%60%53%47%46%46%Rejected24%26%34%39%41%40% Source: War Pension Computer System (WPCS) and Compensation and Pension System (CAPS)1. By financial year of claim registered.2. Claims can also be Accepted without resulting in a financial award or still be awaiting an outcome therefore, percentages may not add up to 100%.3. Claims awarded a Lump Sum and/or a Guaranteed Income Payment.

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and War Pensions

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many claims were (a) registered and (b) cleared by the (i) Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and (ii) War Pension Scheme in each year since 2010.

Leo Docherty: The number of disablement claims registered under the War Pension Scheme (WPS) and the number of injury/illness claims registered under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) in each financial year (FY) from 2009-10 to 2020-21 is presented in Table 1.Table 1: Registered Disablement1 claims under the War Pension Scheme and Registered Injury/Illness claims under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, by financial year2, numbers1 April 2009 – 31 March 2021FY2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15War Pension Scheme13,81912,33011,84011,87812,14911,043Armed Forces Compensation Scheme3,45,3026,5277,3057,7748,6998,964FY2015-162016-172017-182018-192019-202020-21War Pension Scheme10,4969,0658,9988,8658,4414,774Armed Forces Compensation Scheme3,49,2469,0879,4578,8428,0595,300 Source: Compensation and Pension System (CAPS) and War Pension Computer System (WPCS)1. Disablement claims include both First and Second/Subsequent claims.2. By financial year of claim registered.3. Injury/Illness claims registered by the service person.4. These figures exclude registered events which end up being cancelled or withdrawn. However, there were 1,703 registered initial injury/illness claims which were pending as at 31 March 2021, many of which may end up being removed. The number of disablement claims cleared under the War Pension Scheme (WPS) and the number of injury/illness claims cleared under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) in each financial year from 2009-10 to 2020-21 is presented in Table 2.Table 2: Cleared Disablement1 claims under the War Pension Scheme and Cleared Injury/Illness claims under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, by financial year2, numbers1 April 2009 – 31 March 2021FY2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15War Pension Scheme12,96910,5468,8197,66011,8628,926Armed Forces Compensation Scheme3,4,7316,3946,1776,18511,2478,521FY2015-162016-172017-182018-192019-202020-21War Pension Scheme10,5517,8478,7486,5927,7075,655Armed Forces Compensation Scheme3,10,2758,7359,6558,6928,4365,378Source: War Pension Computer System (WPCS) and Compensation and Pension System (CAPS)1. Disablement claims include both First and Second/Subsequent claims.2. By financial year of claim cleared.3. Injury/Illness claims registered by the service person

Armed Forces: Training

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether military officers are given specialist training to deal with reported cases of (a) domestic violence and (b) misogyny in the armed forces.

Leo Docherty: The Ministry of Defence has made it absolutely clear there is no place for unacceptable behaviour in the Armed Forces. Anyone found to fall short of the Services' high standards or to have committed an offence is dealt with appropriately, which may include imprisonment and dismissal from service.All commanders are directed by policy to refer any concerns, allegations, or suspicions surrounding domestic abuse to the Service Police. This is reinforced on disciplinary courses. The Service Police, Unit Welfare Officers, and all those who are required to respond to and investigate such allegations, receive training on how to recognise and respond to domestic abuse.Defence has policy, initiatives, and training to counter unacceptable behaviour as well as a significant strand of work on diversity and inclusion. A significant number of these work-strands focus on improving the lived experience of women in the Armed Forces and creating an inclusive environment in which they may thrive.

Army Welfare Service: Finance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the annual budget of the Army welfare service for each year since 2010.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the total number of staff of the Army welfare service for each year since 2010.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the number of request for support received by the Army welfare service in each year since 2010.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Army welfare service support personnel have undertaken specialist training on domestic abuse in each year since 2010.

Leo Docherty: The Army Welfare Service (AWS) is delivered as part of wider welfare support provision across the Army. It provides second line welfare support through a confidential service, to the Army and its families, delivered by a mix of military and civilian specialist welfare workers who are led by civilian registered social workers. First line welfare support is provided at Unit level by the Chain of Command, Unit Welfare Officers, administrative staff, medical staff and pastoral support. The WRVS is also available at some locations. The AWS is not allocated a separate annual budget. It sits within the Army’s Regional Command budget area. However, AWS expenditure incurred for the period financial year (FY) 2010-11 to FY2020-21 is held and is provided in Table 1 below. Table 1: AWS expenditure FY 2010-11 to FY 2021-21  FYExpenditure2010-11£19,116k2011-12£18,890k2012-13£17,362k2013-14£16,641k2014-15£15,932k2015-16£16,532k2016-17£16,884k2017-18£17,260k2018-19£16,184k2019-20£15,842k2020-21£15,326k Information about the number of staff employed by the AWS is only held for 2012 onwards and is shown in the Table 2 below. Table 2: AWS staff employed in each calendar year since 2012. This includes all AWS staff, not just caseworkers, such as business support staff. Calendar YearNumber2012357201334720142322015317201623120172312018306201926320202642021263 Information about the number of referrals to the AWS is only held from 2016 onwards and is shown in the Table 3 below. Prior to this, there was no digital casework management system in place and the collation of statistics from paper records would be both time consuming and unreliable. Table 3: Referrals to AWS for the period 2016 – 2021. Calendar YearNumber of referrals to AWS20162,72620172,71220182,66920192,95120202,73220213,590 All AWS Personal Support Workers are either qualified Social Workers or graduates of the seven-month Defence Specialist Welfare Worker Course which was comprehensively updated in 2016. Additionally, since 2018 it has been mandated as part of their post qualifying development, they must undertake the AWS run MOD Domestic Violence Informed Practice (DVIP) Course, within six months of qualifying as Army Welfare Workers. Those who qualified before 2018 have also undertaken the DVIP Course. Information about the number of AWS staff who have undertaken specialist domestic abuse training is only held from 2016 onwards and is shown in the Table 4 below: Table 4: Number of AWS staff who have completed the MOD DVIP Course since 2016. YearsNumber DVIP Trained2016-2018902019-20163202144

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and War Pensions

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the average wait time in working days for a claim to be processed by (a) the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and (b) War Pensions in each year since 2010.

Leo Docherty: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's Question. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Armed Forces: Insurance

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of compensation provision through PAX insurance.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the amount paid out in successful claims by PAX insurance in each year since 2010.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his department holds on the  percentage of claims that were (a) accepted and resulted in a reward payment and (b) rejected by PAX insurance in each year since 2010.

Leo Docherty: The Department provides no-fault compensation for illness, injuries, and deaths attributable to service through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. PAX Personal Accident insurance is a private insurance product from a commercial provider, AON UK. It is a matter of individual choice for personnel whether to take out a PAX insurance policy, as is the level of insurance cover for which they pay their premium. Any claim and subsequent award made is handled between the commercial provider and the individual, with no input from the Department. As such, the Ministry of Defence does not hold the requested information and any such data will be solely held by the commercial provider.

Defence: Procurement

David Duguid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of defence procurement on services and equipment was from firms operating or based in Banff and Buchan constituency.

Jeremy Quin: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) regularly publishes expenditure with UK industry, broken down by both UK region and industry group. The latest bulletin on MOD regional expenditure can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-regional-expenditure-with-uk-industry-and-supported-employment-202021/mod-regional-expenditure-with-uk-industry-and-commerce-and-supported-employment-202021 The MOD does not report on expenditure data by constituency, as the data is of insufficient quality to produce accurate estimates at this level.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the role is of the 30 UK military personnel recently sent to Ukraine.

James Heappey: Military personnel recently sent to Ukraine are contributing to Op ORBITAL, the UK's capacity building operation in Ukraine established in 2015.Under Op ORBITAL, UK Service personnel deliver tactically focused training to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, such as medical, logistics and counter-IED. This training was expanded during 2020 to incorporate broader operational and capability orientated Maritime and Air capacity building.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has spent on tackling benefit fraud in each of the last three financial years.

David Rutley: All Department for Work and Pensions staff have a role in tackling benefit fraud, which is why all staff undertake mandatory fraud training each year. The figures provided reflect the direct cost of investigation work plus the cost of investment in fraud detection systems, which, over the last 3 years, amounted to £198m (2018/19), £220m (2019/20) and £162m (2020/21). Note that 2020/21 costs reduced because people were redeployed to front line Operations to help with the COVID claim surge. Figures do not include indirect costs, such as accommodation or IT. Looking ahead, the Department has confirmed an additional three year £613 million investment from the October Comprehensive Spending Review settlement and the announcement in December 2021, which will support a targeted review of Universal Credit claims, the development of a new Debt Enforcement Function and further recruitment into the Counter Fraud and Compliance and Debt Directorate so that we can continue to respond quickly and effectively to threats. This includes funding for around 2,000 trained specialists to identify and stop scammers. We expect this to make a significant reduction in the fraud and error challenge we face.

Education: Universal Credit

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people in receipt of universal credit will have access to short courses of between six weeks to a year in areas where there are skills gaps, starting from September 2022.

Mims Davies: Universal Credit (UC) does not duplicate the financial support provided by the student loan system. This system of student loans and grants are designed to meet their needs. Where learning meets the work-related requirements, as described in their claimant commitment, UC claimants can participate in learning opportunities designed to improve their prospects of securing work and progressing. Using existing flexibilities within UC, DWP’s Train and Progress (TaP) initiative expands claimants’ access to training, including new offers under the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, for example, being able to undertake Skills Bootcamps, ensuring they gain new skills and access better employment opportunities. DWP TaP better aligns the employment and skills support offer and increases the amount of time UC claimants can take part in suitable full-time training. Claimants could take up to 12 weeks for work-related course and up to 16 weeks in areas where Skills Bootcamps exist.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) letters and emails the Complaints Team has received and (b) allegations of benefits fraud her Department has received in relation to recipients now living in Russia and therefore no longer habitually resident in the UK since August 2020; and how many cases her Department has been alerted to where a person still in receipt of benefits is believed to be living in Russia and subject to legal proceedings in that country.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the longest investigation by her Department involving a potential benefits fraud case is where the recipient is believed to be living in Russia.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of cases involving alleged benefits fraud where the recipient is believed to have relocated overseas her Department has continued to make payments to.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time is for continuing to pay benefits following an allegation to her Department that a person is no longer habitually resident in the UK.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in her Department are working on allegations of benefits fraud where the recipient is believed to be living overseas as of 26 January 2022.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefits fraud cases her Department is investigating involving a child considered at risk where that child is in Russia as of 26 January 2022.

David Rutley: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur a disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, who is responsible for making the decision to stop the payment of benefits to people who are living overseas; what criteria are used to determine when the threshold for that step has been reached; and if she will make a statement.

David Rutley: Certain UK benefits can be paid to individuals residing outside the UK under social security reciprocal agreements. Individuals in receipt of DWP benefits are required to inform the Department for Work and Pensions if their address changes, including if they move to another country, and this is set out in communications to customers. Where individuals have informed the Department of their move abroad, then they are not claiming a benefit fraudulently. Operational staff have received guidance and training for dealing with cases under these agreements, to ensure that, when individuals inform us of a move to another country, they know how this will impact their benefit entitlement. In those instances where there is intelligence that a person may not be entitled to a benefit they are receiving, or fails to respond to requests for information to be provided, then the Department can suspend their benefit entitlement pending further investigation. The Department will seek to recover any money claimed fraudulently.

Children: Maintenance

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the length of time it takes to deal with Child Maintenance cases that have been referred to the Financial Investigation Unit.

Guy Opperman: The Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) aim to review all new fraud referrals within 5 working days of receipt. All cases are assessed, and appropriate evidence obtained to fully inform the course of action. The length of time required to complete the FIU action will depend on the complexity of the individual case.

Adoption Allowance: Self-employed

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will introduce an Adoption Allowance comparable to Maternity Allowance for self-employed people.

Guy Opperman: The Government has no plans to introduce an Adoption Allowance for self-employed people. Local Authorities can make discretionary payments to self-employed adopters who do not qualify for adoption pay.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact on Scotland of the changes to disability payments set out in the health and disability green paper following the full devolution of disability benefits to Social Security Scotland.

Chloe Smith: Disability benefits have been devolved to the Scottish Government and it is up to the Scottish Government how it uses those powers to design, administer and assess its replacement provision.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has of the cost to her Department of mandatory reconsiderations for (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payment benefits claims in (i) 2019-20 and (ii) 2020-21.

Chloe Smith: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 2nd February 2022 to question number 108447.

Employment and Support Allowance

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people that claimed employment and support allowance in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020 and (d) 2021.

Chloe Smith: Quarterly statistics on the number of people receiving Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and monthly statistics on the number of people receiving ESA Work Capability Assessments can be found on Stat-Xplore at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance for users is available at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html The annual caseload figures for ESA are shown in Table 1c of the latest Benefit expenditure and caseload tables published here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/benefit-expenditure-tables

Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses

Duncan Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2021 to Question 92099 on Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses, whether she plans to amend legislation to implement changes to (a) the Special Rules for Terminal Illness and (b) Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment during the current session of Parliament; and what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on ensuring parity between social security systems in the UK following the recent passing of the Social Security (Terminal Illness) Bill by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Chloe Smith: The Department plans to amend legislation to implement changes to the Special Rules for Terminal Illness in Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment as soon as possible, subject to Parliamentary processes. The Department works closely with the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland within a legal and non-statutory framework for co-ordination and reciprocity in social security arrangements. In the case of changes to the Special Rules for Terminal Illness, engagement began during policy development and in an evaluation into how the benefits system supports people nearing the end of their lives. This close collaboration continues as the 12-month approach is being implemented to ensure that parity is maintained between the two benefits systems.

State Retirement Pensions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the State Pension as a result of the double lock rule in the context of increases to the rate of inflation.

Guy Opperman: The Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Act 2021 introduced a double lock and allowed the Government to increase pensions by the higher of inflation or 2.5%. From April, State Pensions will be increased by 3.1%, using the consistent mechanism used each year for determining the rate of price increases for pensions and benefits. This represents an additional £4bn spend on pensioner benefits in 2022/23. Over the last two years, the basic and new State Pension have increased by more than 5.6%. This means that from April, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be around £720 more in 2022/23 than if it had been up-rated by prices since 2010. That’s a rise of over £2,300 in cash terms. A full impact assessment for The Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Act 2021 is available here: CBP-9311.pdf (parliament.uk) The government remains committed to implementing the Triple Lock in the usual way for the remainder of the Parliament.

Pensioners: Poverty

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of pensioner poverty.

Guy Opperman: The Government is committed to action to alleviate pensioner poverty. For current pensioners, this includes the contribution of the State Pension and Pension Credit. From April, subject to Parliamentary approval, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be around £720 more in 2022/23 than if it had been up-rated by prices since 2010 - a rise of over £2,300 in cash terms. Over the last two years the basic and new State Pension has increased by over 5.6%. This Government is committed to providing a secure and dignified retirement for those pensioners who would otherwise find themselves without an adequate income. Pension Credit is an income-related benefit paid out of general taxation which targets help at the poorest pensioner households. Around 1.4 million eligible pensioners across Great Britain receive around £5 billion annually in Pension Credit, which tops up their retirement income and act as a passport to other financial help, such as support with housing costs, council tax, heating bills and a free TV licence for those over 75. The overall trend in the percentage of pensioners living in poverty shows a significant fall over recent decades and there are 200,000 fewer pensioners in absolute poverty (both before and after housing costs) than in 2009/10.For future pensioners, the Government has introduced auto-enrolment into workplace pensions, which has transformed pension saving for millions of workers. As part of the £500m Plan for Jobs expansion, we are funding an enhanced support package for workers aged 50 and over to help them to stay in and return to work. Older workers will receive better information and guidance on later life planning, helping them make informed choices and supporting them to plan their career and remain in work. For those who have lost their jobs, this funding will ensure that older job seekers on Universal Credit receive more intensive, tailored support as they look to take the next step in their career. Our network of 50 PLUS Champions (formerly Older Claimants Champions) across all 37 Jobcentre Plus districts, will enable and encourage Work Coaches to direct suitable Plan for Jobs and local support to claimants aged 50 and over.

Pensioners: Cost of Living

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to help protect older people from increases in the cost of living.

Guy Opperman: We have a comprehensive package of measures to help pensioners. The State Pension is the foundation of support for older people, and the value of it has been steadily increasing since 2010. From April, subject to Parliamentary approval, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be around £720 more in 2022/23 than if it had been up-rated by prices since 2010; a rise of over £2,300 in cash terms. Over the last two years the basic and new State Pension has increased by over 5.6%. In addition, around 1.4 million eligible pensioners across Great Britain receive around £5 billion annually in Pension Credit, which tops up their retirement income and act as a passport to other financial help, such as support with housing costs, council tax, heating bills and a free TV licence for those over 75. Customers of State Pension age are also entitled to an annual winter fuel payment worth up to £300. Cold weather payments are payable to those in receipt of Pension Credit and the warm home discount - a rebate of £140 on a customer’s energy bill - is available to those in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit. Further support for pensioners includes free eye tests and NHS prescriptions worth around £900m every year and free bus passes worth £1bn every year.

COP26

Environment Protection: Finance

Caroline Lucas: To ask the President of COP26, what steps he is taking to work with the UNFCCC to help ensure that the money pledged for nature at COP26 is (a) spent (i) effectively and (ii) transparently and (b) goes to frontline communities; and what estimate he has made of when that funding will be made available.

Alok Sharma: At COP26, 141 countries committed to halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation by 2030 in the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use, this is underpinned by almost $20 billion of public and private finance. In the activities supported by the pledge we will promote the full, effective, and willing participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in programmes that protect and restore forests, reduce deforestation and forest degradation, and we will work to ensure that benefits reach smallholders and local communities. At COP26 the UK launched in partnership with Fiji a Taskforce on Access to Climate Finance, to improve access to financial flows for the most vulnerable. This proposes a new approach which aims to deliver a transformational step change in access at the national and local levels and to spur a related shift in the wider public climate finance architecture, improving the predictability, flexibility, transparency, affordability, and speed of disbursement of climate finance.

COP26: UN Convention on Biological Diversity

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the President of COP26, how many staff in his Department have been assigned to work on the Convention of Biological Diversity; and how many Ministers in his Department plan to attend the conference from 25 April to 8 May 2022.

Alok Sharma: The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity represents a historic opportunity to secure an agreement to ambitious global action over the next decade. The UK is committed to playing a leading role in developing an ambitious post-2020 global biodiversity framework to be adopted at COP15. The COP is due to take place in Kunming, China, later this year; though, due to the coronavirus pandemic, we expect a delay to the planned dates of 25 April to 8 May. Minister Goldsmith will head the UK delegation. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the lead department for the Convention on Biological Diversity, working closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Cabinet Office. A core team is in place in DEFRA, drawing on expertise across DEFRA, its specialist arms-length bodies, working with other Government departments, civil society organisations and society at large. This includes working with the FCDO and our Posts across the diplomatic network, through which we are engaging host governments to support the delivery of our objectives. Nature is one of the key priorities in the UK’s COP26 Presidency, and so the Cabinet Office COP26 Unit is also supporting preparations for COP15 to ensure successful delivery of our COP26 objectives.

Forests

Caroline Lucas: To ask the President of COP26, if he will make a statement on how the actions identified under the FACT Dialogue will be implemented.

Alok Sharma: At COP26, 28 countries representing 75% of the global trade in agricultural commodities launched a roadmap of actions under the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue. The countries committed to continuing the dialogue, working together and meeting regularly to support implementation of the roadmap actions. This will include sharing experiences, finding common ground, and developing joint actions in support of the shared aims of promoting sustainable development and trade while protecting forests and other critical ecosystems. The UK will work closely with FACT countries to implement the actions identified in the roadmap.

Natural Resources: Conservation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the President of COP26, what steps he is taking to help ensure that signatories of the Glasgow Leader’s Declaration on Forests and Land Use are held accountable; how that declaration is being connected to the Convention on Biological Diversity COP15 process; and if he will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: The UK Government is committed to taking bold action to tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. However, we are clear that countries cannot tackle environmental and climate crises alone; we need a concerted global effort. The Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use is an unprecedented commitment from 142 countries, covering over 91% of global forests, to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. It’s underpinned by almost $20bn of public and private finance, by sustainable trade and by support for indigenous peoples’ rights. We will work with other countries that endorsed the Declaration to convert this political commitment into strong action on forests and land use. This will include working through multilateral events in 2022 such as meetings of the G7 and G20, and at COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity. All Parties to the Paris Agreement must report on their progress towards its goals via nationally determined contributions - which cover every emitting sector including forests and land use. At COP26, as part of the Glasgow Climate Pact, countries agreed to revisit and strengthen their current emissions targets to 2030 in 2022.

Home Office

Refugees: Afghanistan

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of applying the residence test rules of those with Calais leave to Afghan nationals relocated under the (a) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and (b) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme wanting to study in higher education.

Victoria Atkins: The Department for Education have confirmed that ACRS/ARAP individuals wishing to access higher education will have access to home fee status and student support from the next academic year.This puts ACRS and ARAP arrivals on the same footing as refugees.

Asylum: Finance

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many women and children are in receipt of asylum support under s98, s95 or s4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of these statistics which disaggregates gender or age of supported of asylum seekers. These figures are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Asylum

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many women and children are waiting for a decision on their asylum claim.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of these statistics which disaggregates gender or age of supported of asylum seekers. These figures are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Borders: Digital Technology

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on implementing the Digital Services at the Border Programme.

Kevin Foster: The Digital Services at the Border (DSAB) programme continues to make good progress working diligently on replacing legacy IT systems whilst identifying and addressing technical complexities, at the same time as reacting to the changing priorities faced at the UK border, such as the automation of the Passenger Locator Form (PLF).

Fraud: Criminal Investigation

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of support provided to local police forces to assist in the investigation of scams conducted (a) through telephone calls and (b) online.

Kit Malthouse: We recognise that there needs to be improvements in the response to fraud – from the reporting process through to investigations. That is why we have been working with partners from law enforcement, the public and private sectors to explore all options available to give our policing colleagues what they need to keep pace with criminals and encourage innovation within industry.The government is committed to taking fraudsters off the streets and increasing arrests and prosecutions. We are increasing law enforcement investigative capacity in the National Crime Agency and in Regional Organised Crime Units across England and Wales.As part of the Police Uplift Programme to recruit an additional 20,000 officers by 2023, we have channelled additional officer resource into the Regional Organised Crime Unit network to work on a host of serious and organised crime threats including fraud as well as posts to the City of London Police to fulfil their role as a world-class fraud specialist force.We will also establish a new fraud investigative function in the NCA to target the most complex and serious fraudsters, meeting a manifesto commitment to create a new national cybercrime force focused on fraud. We are also increasing intelligence capabilities in the NCA and the national security community to identify the most harmful criminals and organised criminal gangs.

Investigatory Powers Commissioner: Annual Reports

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Investigatory Powers Commissioner on delays in publishing his annual report; and if she will standardise the publication date each year.

Kit Malthouse: The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 s234(1) does not include a specific date for the publication of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s report but instead provides that the IPC make a report to the PM “as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each calendar year”.The latest annual report was received by the Home Office in November 2021 and it was published in January 2022. This is in line with previous years.

Fraud: Coronavirus

Pat McFadden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many ongoing investigations are underway at the National Crime Agency to recover public money lost to fraud and economic crime from the Government's coronavirus business support schemes.

Pat McFadden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many members of staff at the National Crime Agency are working full time on the recovery of public money lost to fraud and economic crime from the Government's emergency coronavirus support schemes.

Kit Malthouse: The NCA do not comment on the number of current investigations by the Agency.

Forced Labour

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Foreign Secretary of 12 January 2021, Official Report, column 162, on strengthening the Modern Slavery Act by introducing fines for businesses that do not comply with their transparency obligations and the need for legislation to set the level of those fines, when she plans to bring forward those legislative proposals.

Rachel Maclean: The landmark transparency provisions contained in section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 made the UK the first country in the world to require businesses with a turnover of £36m or more to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.To enhance the impact of transparency and accelerate action to prevent modern slavery, the Government committed to strengthening the reporting requirements contained in section 54 and introduce new measures including financial penalties for organisations that fail to meet their statutory obligation to publish modern slavery statements.These measures require primary legislation and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows. The Government will publish guidance to help organisations prepare for the new reporting requirements when the timing of legislation is clear.

Police: Stun Guns

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of offering all police officers training on the use of tasers.

Kit Malthouse: The government is committed to giving the police the necessary tools to do their job. TASER® provides officers with an important tactical option when facing potentially violent situations.The Home Office supports the use of TASER® by specially trained officers in line with national policing guidance. The number of TASER® trained officers within a force is an operational matter and is determined by chief officers in line with their respective force’s Strategic Threat and Risk Assessments.

Drugs: Crime

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to increase funding to support the police in undertaking work on (a) drug prevention and (b) tackling the rate of drugs-related criminal activity.

Kit Malthouse: Drugs devastate lives, ruin families and damage communities. This Government is determined to tackle this threat and on 6 December published a ten-year Strategy to combat illicit drugs. The Strategy sets out our whole system approach, to cut off the supply of drugs by criminal gangs, give people with a drug dependence a route to a productive and drug-free life, and reduce the so-called ‘recreational’ use of drugs.Underpinned by significant investment, we have set out our ambition to reduce drug-related crimes, deaths, harms and overall drug use.We are investing £25m to build a strong evidence base on what works in reducing the demand for drugs among the wider population. This aims to prevent drug use by ensuring people understand the harms associated with illicit drug use, and that individuals face meaningful consequences if they do use drugs. We recognise that one of the most effective approaches to reducing demand is through building the resilience of young people so that they are better able to avoid being drawn into drug use or other risky behaviours. We are taking action to prevent the onset of drug use among children and young people through early intervention to support at-risk groups and investing in research to build the evidence base in this area.Through our Drugs Strategy we are also delivering a robust and innovative ‘attack plan’ which targets every phase of the drugs supply chain. The Home Office is dedicating £300m over the next three years to support the police, and other partners on tackling drugs supply. This includes investing up to £145m to bolster our County Lines Programme and tackle the most violent and exploitative distribution model yet seen.The strategy is on the gov.uk page and can be found here From harm to hope: A 10-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Demonstrations: Motorways

Dr Kieran Mullan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle disruption caused by protests on motorways.

Kit Malthouse: The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, contains measures which will improve the police's ability to deal with these disruptive protests.The maximum penalty for wilful obstruction of the highway will be raised from a level 3 fine (currently £1,000) to an unlimited fine and/or six-months’ imprisonment. This will ensure offenders receive proportionate sentences for the disruption they cause.We are also clarifying that this offence can still be committed if the free passage along the highway has already been obstructed by other protesters. This is to address the defence exploited by some who claim that they are not guilty of the offence if they join a protest on a highway after the police have closed it to ensure the safety of other protesters already obstructing it.However, we are disappointed that the House of Lords did not back other measures which would have helped to further reduce this disruption caused by a selfish minority of protesters.

Migrants

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were issued for the first time with Leave to Remain in the UK, subject to the No Recourse to Public Funds condition, in each of the last five years.

Tom Pursglove: We are able to provide data relating to initial extensions to temporary stay in the UK (further Leave to Remain) under the HR/Complex, Spouse/Partner and Other Non-PBS routes. This information should be interpreted within the following context:This data is considered provisional management information, is taken from a live database, and is therefore subject to change.The categories included are intended for internal reporting and do not necessarily align with categories used in other published statistics.Subsequent consideration against these cases, such as an application for Change of Conditions, may mean that the No Recourse to Public Funds condition is no longer imposed on some cases.This data should not be relied on as an indication of how many migrants with Leave to Remain on any single or all route(s) are present in the UK at any given time or over a given period.This data does not include overseas applications for Leave to Enter where the vast majority of applications have No Recourse to Public Funds imposed.This data does not include in-country extensions on other routes; for example, work or study routes where the No Recourse to Public Funds condition is imposed in all cases, or Leave to Remain granted to refugees or Discretionary Leave to Remain where the No Recourse to Public Funds condition is not applied.Comprehensive data on visas granted is published by the Home Office each quarter at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-releaseThe figures below do not align with figures provided in a previous PQ and published statistics. This is because, while the internal reporting figures below are produced from the same source data as the published statistics, they are categorised differently.This data does not reflect the impact of the NRPF condition on the people to which it applies. In country extensions with NRPFTotal in-country extensions subject to NRPF (%)2017 Q115,50092%2017 Q214,00091%2017 Q319,90091%2017 Q423,00089%2018 Q123,40089%2018 Q221,20091%2018 Q322,40092%2018 Q425,50089%2019 Q128,20088%2019 Q226,20090%2019 Q329,20089%2019 Q426,30085%2020 Q122,10086%2020 Q26,90084%2020 Q312,00082%2020 Q428,80085%2021 Q131,10083%2021 Q229,30082%2021 Q330,30088%2021 Q427,40084%

Military Aid: English Channel

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date her Department submitted a military aid to civilian authorities request to the Ministry of Defence to request military assistance to tackle Channel crossings.

Tom Pursglove: The Government is determined to prevent further loss of life in the Channel and break the business model of dangerous criminal people smugglers. The UK armed forces already work closely with Border Force in these operations, given their expertise and experience in maritime operations. This is a complex global issue requiring a response across the whole of government, and it is right that we pursue all options to prevent illegal crossings and protect life at sea.The Government’s New Plan for Immigration will help deter illegal migration and break the business model of the criminal gangs.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Green Belt

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to retain current protections afforded to greenbelt areas in future Government planning proposals.

Christopher Pincher: This Government has a manifesto commitment to protect and enhance the Green Belt. Our National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that a local authority can take land out of Green Belt only in exceptional circumstances, through the local plan process, and only if it can demonstrate that it has explored all other reasonable options. These strong protections for Green Belt land will remain firmly in place.

Housing: Greater London

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many new homes are planned to be built in Waltham Forest under the First Homes Scheme; which developers are building homes under that scheme in Greater London; and what steps people need to take to (a) confirm their eligibility for and (b) monitor the availability of homes under that scheme.

Christopher Pincher: We are not aware of any First Homes schemes planned in Waltham Forest or Greater London. However, as of 28 June 2021, national planning policy now sets an expectation that new local plans should ensure 25% of all affordable homes delivered through developer contributions should be First Homes.Prospective purchasers should look for First Homes on new developments in their area and approach developers directly. Developers and local authorities should publicise the necessary steps to demonstrate eligibility.

Building Safety Fund

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the Building Safety Fund revised Grant Funding Agreement will be made available to applicants.

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many stage 2 funding applications are being held up pending the publication of the revised Building Safety Fund Grant Funding Agreement.

Christopher Pincher: The revised Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) for the Building Safety Fund (BSF) will be made available to Applicants shortly. There should be no obstacle to the remediation of unsafe cladding being carried out without further delay.

Derelict Land

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to encourage local planning authorities to adopt a brownfield first housing policy.

Christopher Pincher: The National Planning Policy Framework expects local authorities to make the most of brownfield land for development. Local authorities are best placed to assess potential sites, and each authority now publishes a register of brownfield suitable for new homes. We have introduced Permission in Principle, an extra route to planning permission for land on these registers, giving certainty from the outset that the principles of a redevelopment scheme are acceptable.This Government is putting significant investment into brownfield redevelopment through the £4.3 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund, the £4.95 billion Home Building Fund, and the £400 million Brownfield Housing Fund. Local authorities not eligible for support from the latter have been able to bid for assistance from the £75 million Brownfield Land Release Fund. This is designed to unlock brownfield sites and release serviced plots on local authority owned land. At Spending Review 2021, the Government announced a £1.8 billion package of investment to regenerate communities and level up the country, unlocking up to 160,000 new homes in total. There is tax relief on work to decontaminate land, and we have reformed permitted development and Use Class rules so yet more homes can be created on previously developed land.

Housing: Solihull

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will confirm the provisional allocation of the New Homes Bonus to be awarded to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council for the 2022-23 financial year.

Christopher Pincher: As part of the Provisional Local Government Finance settlement, we announced a new round of New Homes Bonus Allocations for 2022/23. Final allocations will be announced as part of the wider Local Government Finance Settlement shortly.

Local Government: Local Press

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to ensure that local authorities can place statutory notices with digital-only news outlets, particularly in communities that do not have printed news outlets.

Christopher Pincher: The Government is mindful of the potential effect that any changes to the existing publicity requirements for statutory notices might have on transparency and local democracy, as well as the potential effect on the sustainability of the local news sector as a whole. We recognise the continued importance of print local newspapers to the communities they serve and that there will continue to be a need to reach out to people who cannot digitally access information. We currently have no plans to change the statutory duty to publish statutory notices.

Supported Housing: Veterans

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to increase the provision of veteran supported housing.

Eddie Hughes: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme (2021-26) (England) includes delivery for new supported housing within the programme. The delivery by Homes England and the Greater London Authority is based on bids from providers who are encouraged to discuss proposals with local areas. My previous answer to Question UIN 105327 on 31 January 2022 sets out the position on the provision of local housing support services.In 2012, we changed the law so that seriously injured, ill or disabled Service personnel, and former members of the Armed Forces, with urgent housing needs are always given high priority for social housing. In June 2020 we published new statutory guidance for local authorities to improve access to social housing for members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their families.

Homelessness: Leicestershire

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the level of homelessness in (a) Leicestershire and (b) Bosworth.

Eddie Hughes: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities publishes quarterly statistics on statutory homelessness. The most recent statistics, for the period June to September 2021, are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness. This includes data for local authorities in Leicestershire and in Bosworth, although the most recent data for Hinckley and Bosworth is not available due to insufficient data being submitted.The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and fully enforcing the Homelessness Reduction Act, and we are spending £2 billion over the next three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This includes the £316 million Homelessness Prevention Grant for the 2022-23 Financial Year, paid to local authorities to help prevent homelessness and provide temporary accommodation.  Leicestershire local authorities have a total grant of £2,136,251 from the Homelessness Prevention Grant in 2022-23.  Hinckley and Bosworth will receive £231, 567 from the Homelessness Prevention Grant in 2022-23.

Homelessness: Finance

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what Government funding is available to support local authorities and other agencies in (a) assisting and (b) providing housing for homeless people.

Eddie Hughes: The Government is committed to ending rough sleeping within this Parliament and we are spending more than £800 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in 2021/22 aloneThis includes £375 million through the Homelessness Prevention Grant to help local authorities to prevent homelessness and provide temporary accommodation, which represents a £112 million increase on the previous year's funding. This includes an exceptional £65 million provided to local authorities to help vulnerable households with rent arrears, reducing the risk of them being evicted and becoming homeless.The Rough Sleeping Initiative has provided over £390 million to local authorities since 2018, to reduce the levels of rough sleeping across England. In 2021/22 the Government has provided over £202 million, which is a more than 80% increase from the £112 million provided last year and will provide up to 14,500 bed spaces and 2,700 support staff across England. The Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme , backed by £435 million, will provide 6,000 move-on homes and accompanying support services to those who are rough sleeping or who have a history of sleeping rough, by 2024.To build on this progress the Government has committed over £2 billion to tackling homelessness and rough sleeping over the next 3 years, with multi-year funding enabling local partners to better plan services.

Tobacco: Health Services

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department plans to take to reduce tobacco-related health inequalities in the forthcoming levelling up White Paper.

Neil O'Brien: As set out in the recently published Levelling Up the United Kingdom White Paper, this Government is committed to levelling up society and helping people quit smoking. The White Paper outlines how the Government wants to make the country smokefree by 2030 and the Department of Health and Social Care will publish a new tobacco control plan later this year setting out how the government plans to deliver this.The UK Government will set out a strategy to tackle the core drivers of inequalities in health outcomes in a new White Paper on Health Disparities in England in 2022. The Department of Health and Social Care will work with the whole of government to consider health disparities at each stage at which they arise, from wider determinants of health, to behavioural factors that influence health, to the health services that people access and receive. It plans to look in more detail at what can be done in communities with higher rates of behaviours, including smoking.

Anti-social Behaviour

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what Government funding is available to support local authorities and other agencies in preventing anti-social behaviour.

Neil O'Brien: The police, local authorities and other local agencies have a range of flexible tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to antisocial behaviour through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Last year the Beating Crime Plan laid out the Government's plan for tackling crime and ASB and committed to working with local agencies and partners to drive down ASB using the full range of powers and tools in the Act. It is for local areas to decide how best to deploy these powers depending on the specific circumstances.The Safer Streets Fund has now allocated £70 million through three funds, the main purpose of which is to reduce neighbourhood and acquisitive crimes, but many of the projects will also help to improve public safety and tackle antisocial behaviour.Local authorities are best placed to know the priorities in their own areas and have discretion to target funding according to local need.The provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2022-23 makes available an additional £3.5 billion to councils, including funding for adult social care reform. This is an increase in local authority funding for 2022-23 of over 4% in real terms, which will ensure councils across the country have the resources they need to deliver key services. In total, we expect Core Spending Power to rise from £50.4 billion in 2021-22 to up to £53.9 billion in 2022-23.

United Kingdom

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on strengthening the Union.

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on strengthening the Union.

Neil O'Brien: The United Kingdom is the world’s most successful and enduring multi-national, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural political union. Being part of the United Kingdom makes every one of us safer and more prosperous. To ensure all levels of government in the United Kingdom can work better together to deliver for the people we serve, the UK Government and the devolved governments have recently concluded our joint review of Intergovernmental Relations and agreed a new set of arrangements to promote closer and more effective joint working. I refer the Hon Member to the written Statement made by the Secretary of State on 13 January 2022 (HCWS536).

Cabinet Office

Civil Servants: Veterans

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many veterans applied using the civil service great place to work scheme over the nine month pilot; and how many of those applicants (a) received an interview, (b) were offered a job, (c) were placed on reserve lists and (d) went on to accept a role and begin work.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the success of the Civil Service Great Place to Work for Veterans Scheme Pilot.

Leo Docherty: During the early adopter phase, 3,126 applications were submitted by veterans through the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative. Of the applications, 1,063 were offered an interview, with 310 subsequent job offers. These numbers suggest the initiative has been successful in providing greater opportunities to veterans to pursue a career in the Civil Service. Feedback from Civil Service and Veterans’ organisations agreed the scheme helps break down negative perceptions of veterans within society and among employers.Following the success of the early adopter phase, we are currently rolling the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative out across the Civil Service with all departments expected to have implemented the initiative by 31 March 2022.

National Security

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the latest revised guidance for holders of national security clearance, published on 31 January 2022, has removed the previous requirements for clearance-holders (a) to create and contribute to a positive environment in which security is given appropriate priority, (b) to raise any concerns about individual or organisational practices that are in breach of security procedures and (c) to speak to local security teams, security controllers or line managers if the clearance-holder has concerns about a specific activity or individual.

Michael Ellis: The government recently established the Accreditation Check as a new level of National Security Vetting to improve security within the aviation industry. GOV.UK pages were updated to include this but an administrative error saw some information mistakenly removed. This was rectified as soon as the Cabinet Office became aware.

Appreciate Group

Bill Esterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much money has been paid in total out of the public purse to Appreciate Group PLC since it was first accredited as a supplier.

Michael Ellis: Cabinet Office finance systems only record information from 2009 onwards. There have been no payments made to the supplier Appreciate Group PLC by the Cabinet Office since 1st April 2009.

10 Downing Street

Angela Rayner: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 31 January 2022, whether the Second Permanent Secretary and her investigation team will be redeployed following the delivery of the report entitled, Investigation into alleged gatherings on government premises during Covid restrictions: Update, or will continue to work on matters relating to that investigation.

Michael Ellis: Sue Gray remains Second Permanent Secretary with responsibility for the Union and Constitution at the Cabinet Office and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The Government does not comment on internal resourcing matters.

Civil Servants: Coronavirus

Chris Stephens: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a member of Civil Service staff is expected to return to the workplace in the event that a risk assessment for them shows that, even with mitigations, it is more hazardous for them to return to the workplace than to continue working from home.

Chris Stephens: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is Civil Service policy that staff who have been homeworking must have an individual risk assessment before returning to the workplace.

Michael Ellis: Throughout the pandemic, the Government has published guidance on GOV.UK: Working Safely During Coronavirus (Covid-19) which supports all employers, including Civil Service employers, to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in the workplace and to keep people safe. All employers are required to conduct a health and safety risk assessment that includes the risks of COVID-19 in the workplace. Within the Civil Service managers are also encouraged to conduct an individual risk assessment with their employees, ensuring that personal risk factors are considered and, where identified, control measures are put in place to reduce their level of risk when returning to the workplace.A decision on whether it is safe for an employee to return to the workplace will be based on the outcomes of those risk assessments.

Treasury

Heat Pumps: VAT

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of putting zero rating VAT on domestic heat pumps.

Lucy Frazer: The Government maintains a reduced rate of VAT of 5 per cent on the installation of many Energy Saving Materials, such as ground source and air source heat pumps, subject to certain conditions. The Government keeps all taxes under review, but going further would impose significant additional pressure on the public finances, to which VAT makes a significant contribution. VAT raised around £130 billion in 2019-20 and helps to fund key spending priorities. Any reduction in tax paid is a reduction in the money available to support important public services, including the NHS and policing. The Government has published the Heat and Building Strategy, which sets out our vision for a sustainable and affordable transition to a low carbon heating sector. The Strategy sets out proposals that will create a long-term, stable, regulatory framework across all types of buildings, while targeting funding to support early adopters and the vulnerable.

Whisky: Scotland

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he will take to ensure that the Alcohol Duty Review supports the Scotch whisky sector.

Helen Whately: As announced at the Budget, the duty rates on spirits will be frozen for another year. This will save consumers 52p on a 70cl bottle of Scotch, and £845 million over the coming years. Cuts and freezes at eight of the last nine budgets means a bottle of Scotch is £2.72 cheaper than it would have been had prices risen with inflation, and means that spirits duty is at its lowest rate in real terms since 1918.   As part of our alcohol duty review, we have announced further reforms which aim to support the Scotch whisky sector. To achieve a more level playing field, the Government intends to move to tax all alcoholic products in reference to the litres of pure alcohol they contain, as currently happens for spirits, and to reduce the duty differential between wines and spirits. This will provide a more consistent treatment between spirits, wines and stronger beers.

Whisky: Scotland

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the contribution the Scotch whisky sector can make in supporting the UK’s hospitability sector to recover from the covid-19 outbreak.

Helen Whately: The Government recognises the important contribution the Scotch whisky sector makes to the hospitality sector and the wider economy. For this reason, and as announced at the Budget, the duty rates on spirits will be frozen for another year. This will save consumers 52p on a 70cl bottle of Scotch, and £845 million over the coming years. Cuts and freezes at eight of the last nine budgets means a bottle of Scotch is £2.72 cheaper than it would have been had prices risen with inflation. Due to the continued freeze on alcohol duty, Scotch whisky is also facing the lowest real-terms tax rate since 1918.

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

Neil Coyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether an Equality Impact Assessment was carried out by his Department on the proposals set out in the Alcohol Duty Review.

Helen Whately: The completion and publication of formal Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) documents is not a legal or procedural requirement. However, equality impacts are appropriately assessed and explained to ministers throughout the policymaking process. Treasury Ministers carefully considered the equalities impacts of the reforms to alcohol duties and had due regard to the public sector equality duty when making decisions. Further information on the equalities implications of the alcohol duty reforms will be published in a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) when the policy is final, or near final, in the usual way.

Tax Evasion

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the amount spent by Government on tackling tax evasion in each of the last three financial years.

Lucy Frazer: The Government is committed to tackling tax avoidance, evasion, and all other forms of tax non-compliance. Our tax gap is on a long-term downward trend and is among the lowest worldwide, falling from 7.5 per cent in 2005-06 to 5.3 per cent in 2019-20. HMRC has considerable resources to tackle non-compliance in the tax system, including tax evasion. As set out in HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts, in the last three financial years HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group has spent £3.5 billion on tackling avoidance, evasion, and other forms of non-compliance, including £1.1 billion in 2018-19, £1.2 billion in 2019-20, and £1.2 billion in 2020-21.

Welfare Tax Credits: Self-employed

Drew Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions officials in his Department have had with HMRC on ensuring that documentation asked for from self-employed people during Tax Credits claims allows for (a) claimants to comply with their GDPR requirements, particularly in relation to requests for (i) invoices and ii) purchase orders and (b) copies of documents in order that original documents are not damaged during any necessary redaction processes made to comply with GDPR rules.

Lucy Frazer: HMRC does not ask to see any of the evidence listed when considering Tax Credits Claims. They rely on information provided by the applicant. If HMRC need to check the validity of a claim, they may ask for sight of relevant documents solely for that purpose. HMRC would not redact any original documentation that they receive, it would be returned to the applicant once the contents had been considered.

Non-domestic Rates

Matt Vickers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on businesses of the increase in the business rates multiplier in England since 1990.

Lucy Frazer: The business rates multiplier was frozen in 2021-22. Additionally, at Autumn Budget 2021, the Chancellor announced the decision to freeze the multiplier for 2022-23, a tax cut worth £4.6 billion over the next 5 years. This will support all ratepayers, large and small, meaning bills are 3 per cent lower than without the freeze. A restaurant chain with 400 restaurants with a rateable value of £45,000 each will receive support worth around £1,350,000, or 3 per cent of their rates liability over the next 5 years. Cutting the standard business rates multiplier to their 1990 levels of 35p in 2022-23 would cost an estimated £9 billion annually, with costs rising every year to over £11 billion per year by 2030. A cut of 1p to the multiplier in 2022-23 would cost around £600 million. The revenue forgone for a cut of this scale would be highly significant. For instance, £10 billion of revenue is equivalent to around 20 per cent of 2021-22 local government Core Spending Power. Raising the equivalent funding elsewhere in the tax system would require an increase of around 1.5 percentage points to the standard rate of VAT.

Non-domestic Rates

Matt Vickers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the cost of the downwards phasing of business rates transitional relief on retail businesses since the last revaluation in 2017.

Lucy Frazer: At Autumn Budget 2021, the Government announced a one-year extension to Transitional Relief, restricting bill increases to 15 per cent for small properties (up to £20k Rateable Values (RVs)) and 25 per cent for medium properties (up to £100,000 RVs), subject to subsidy control limits. The Government recognises that Transitional Relief arrangements, particularly ‘downward caps’, can mean some bills take longer to reach their new level. These ‘downward caps’ pay for protection for businesses seeing large increases in their bills. The extension of Transitional Relief and the Supporting Small Business Scheme in 2022-23 for small and medium businesses will save businesses an estimated £30 million, protecting small businesses from significant bill increases.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: National Insurance

Alyn Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the role of National Insurance numbers was in the delivery of the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme.

Lucy Frazer: In the context of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, National Insurance Numbers (NINO) were, and are, used for additional verification of employees, including to help protect against fraud. Employers were required to provide the NINO of an employee they wished to place on furlough at the stage of making a claim. In exceptional cases where an employee did not need or have a NINO, employers were able to contact HMRC to claim for them. Further exception procedures were applied to larger employers.

Public Expenditure

Dr Kieran Mullan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to manage the public finances effectively.

Mr Simon Clarke: The government is committed to ensuring that the public finances are managed effectively and that we are delivering value for taxpayers' money across government spending. At the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, the Chancellor confirmed new fiscal rules which will ensure that the public finances are on a stable footing in the years to come. The Office for Budget Responsibility confirm we are on track to get debt falling by 2024-25 and meet all our fiscal rules.

Public Sector

Dr Kieran Mullan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support public services.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 confirmed the largest real-terms increase in overall departmental spending for any Parliament this century. This record level of investment will be targeted where it will deliver improved outcomes and value for money for the taxpayer. The government is investing in the public services people rely on, to ensure they are fit for the future and to drive up standards across the country. HM Treasury has also taken further action to drive out low value or inefficient spend, to ensure that government continues to deliver the best value services to the public. Following the efficiency and savings review last year, Spending Review 2021 confirmed savings of 5% against day-to-day central departments budgets in 2024-25. Departmental savings will be reinvested into the government’s priorities.

Humanitarian Aid: Afghanistan

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 2615 to allow UK banks to facilitate humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.

John Glen: The Afghanistan (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 were laid on 27 January and came into force on 28 January 2022. The Regulations implement the UK’s international obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 2615. The resolution provides for a humanitarian exception to the sanctions regime established by resolution 1988 (2011) to support the provision of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. HM Treasury, through its Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation, are working to support its effective implementation with supporting guidance and through continued engagement with the financial and humanitarian sectors.

Cash Dispensing: Public Consultation

Justin Madders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his timetable is for responding to the Access to Cash Consultation which closed on 1 July 2021.

John Glen: The Government recognises that cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, which is why it has committed to legislate to protect access to cash.From 1 July to 23 September last year, the Government held the Access to Cash Consultation on proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. The Government’s proposals intend to support the continued use of cash in people’s daily lives and help to enable local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they can access deposit facilities. The Government received responses to the consultation from a broad range of respondents, including individuals, businesses, and charities. The Government is carefully considering responses to the consultation as it develops legislation. The Government will set out next steps in due course. Following the Government’s commitment to legislate, firms are working together through the Cash Action Group to develop new initiatives to provide shared services. The Government welcomes the direction set by industry’s commitments at the end of last year and looks forward to seeing what results they deliver in protecting cash facilities for local communities across the UK.

Pensions

Peter Grant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office of Tax Simplification's publication of May 2018 entitled Savings income: routes to simplification, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of its recommendations on (a) reviewing guidance relating to pension withdrawals and (b) the use of the emergency take code for personal pension lump sum withdrawals.

John Glen: The Government ensures that all savers have access to free, impartial guidance as they approach retirement age through MoneyHelper, provided by the Money and Pension Service (MaPS). MoneyHelper Pensions provides guidance on all areas of UK pensions to the public regardless of age. Information relating to the tax implications of pension withdrawals is available on the MoneyHelper website, and is covered in Pension Wise appointments. The use of PAYE for those who access pensions flexibly operates as expected for many individuals. Where tax is overpaid tax because of an emergency tax code, individuals can contact HMRC and will be repaid within 30 days. Moreover, anyone who does not contact HMRC will be automatically repaid following the end of the tax year. This approach helps to minimise the number of unexpected tax bills for those who access their pension savings flexibly.

Members: Correspondence

Pat McFadden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South East (a) of 8 December 2021 on coronavirus loan fraud and (b) of 19 December 2021 on his visit to California; and for what reason he has not provided a timely response to that correspondence.

Helen Whately: The Member’s letter of 8 December was passed to BEIS to reply and the response was issued on 22 December. I responded to the Member’s letter of 19 December on 31 January.

Financial Services: Environment Protection

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements, announced in the Green Finance Roadmap, mandatory; and if he will make a statement.

John Glen: In October 2021, the Government published ‘Greening Finance: A Roadmap to Sustainable Investing’, setting out details of new, economy-wide Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR). The ambition is for the new SDR to apply to companies, asset managers and asset owners, including pension schemes, and investment products. It will require reporting for the first time on climate and environmental impact, alongside the financial risks and opportunities these pose to business. This builds on our world-leading efforts in making TCFD-related disclosures mandatory in the UK. As set out in that Roadmap, these disclosures must be mandatory to ensure that relevant firms are disclosing high-quality information, enabling investors to compare disclosures and ensuring that data is available across the economy. The Roadmap published in October outlines a pathway to introducing requirements across the economy in a coordinated and proportionate way.

Financial Services: Environment Protection

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he will implement net zero transition plans on a mandatory basis as part of the Green Finance Roadmap.

John Glen: At COP 26, the Chancellor announced that the UK would require financial institutions to publish robust firm-level transition plans setting out how they will decarbonise as the UK meets its ambitious and legally binding net zero targets. Initially, asset managers, regulated asset owners and listed companies will have to publish transition plans that consider the government’s net zero commitment or provide an explanation if they have not done so. The UK will move towards making publication of transition plans mandatory and will strengthen requirements as standards for transition plans emerge. The new Transition Plan Taskforce, also announced by the Chancellor at COP, will develop a ‘gold standard’ for transition plans and associated cutting edge metrics that will inform these requirements.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Derby County Football Club

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assistance her Department is providing in negotiations between Derby County FC and the English Football League on the future of that club.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government continues to engage closely with the English Football League about Derby County Football Club. Ultimately, it is for the EFL, the administrator and the club to resolve issues to ensure the survival of Derby County FC, but the government has urged pragmatism from all parties to find a solution for the benefit of fans and the community that the club serves. The EFL must equally preserve the integrity of the league on behalf of all member clubs, but all parties want to see one of the founding members of the Football League continue this season and beyond under appropriate ownership.It is positive that the EFL has granted a 4 week extension to Derby County FC and its administrators to demonstrate proof of funding through to the end of the season. The extension is a vital lifeline for the survival of the club and the opportunity shouldn't be squandered. I am in regular contact with the EFL and administrators about the club's future. Derby County is a proud club with a long history, and this additional time must be utilised to ensure a suitable outcome is reached, with the interests of Derby County's fans in mind.

Internet: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy, published 28 July 2021, what recent steps her Department has taken to (a) build the evidence base on the nature and scale of the inaccessibility of private sector websites and (b) explore how the Government can effectively intervene.

Chris Philp: We are aware that for people who have a disability, inadequate design of apps or websites - which does not take disabled users into account - is a significant issue. As part of the commitment made in the government’s National Disability Strategy 2021, DCMS commissioned an internal study into the nature and scale of the inaccessibility of private sector websites; the first stage of which was completed in late 2021.The conclusions of this study are currently being considered by policy teams in collaboration with the government’s disability unit. DCMS is using this evidence to explore how the government can make effective interventions in this space. We aim to conclude our findings and options in spring 2022.This work will complement the government’s 2018 publication of the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations. Led and monitored by the Government Digital Services (GDS), these regulations require UK public sector websites and apps to be made accessible, unless it would be disproportionate to do so.

National Lottery

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many national lottery participants there are each year on average; and how much on average is lost by the highest spending players.

Chris Philp: Data from the National Lottery operator suggests that in 2020/21 c.68% of UK adults played National Lottery games once a year or more. This equates to more than 37 million people buying a National Lottery ticket in 2020/21. Around 60% of people played once a quarter.The Gambling Commission’s Quarterly Telephone Survey suggests that for the years ending 2019 and 2020, the 12-month rolling average of people aged 16 and over who had participated in any National Lottery game within the past four weeks ranged from 31.1% (an estimated 16,427,547 people when applied to UK mid-year population estimates from the Office for National Statistics) to 34.1% (an estimated 17,930,097 people).The Gambling Commission does not routinely hold data in respect of how much on average is lost by the highest spending National Lottery players. However, the Gambling Commission regularly monitors a range of player spend data, which includes outlier groups and specific cohorts of players, in line with its statutory duty to ensure the interests of participants in the National Lottery are protected.

National Lottery: Regulation

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to ban the National Lottery from using its brand to promote online instant-win games that may lead to problem gambling.

Chris Philp: The National Lottery offers a range of products including draw-based games, interactive instant win games and scratchcards.All games, including instant win games, are licensed by the Gambling Commission, either at a category or individual game level. The Gambling Commission has three statutory duties with regard to the National Lottery (shared with DCMS) - to ensure the National Lottery is run with due propriety, to protect the interests of players, and subject to this, to maximise returns to good causes.In determining whether to licence, the Gambling Commission will consider the potential impact on players and the player protection mechanisms which are in place to protect players from harm.Further information can be found within the National Lottery Consumer Protection Strategy. This strategy means that the Gambling Commission can be confident that National Lottery games have a very low risk of causing harm to players.Evidence from the latest (2018) Health Survey for England shows that National Lottery games were associated with the lowest rates of problem gambling of all gambling products considered. Problem gambling rates for National Lottery draw-based games were 0.9% while the figure for scratchcards was 1.4%. By comparison, the problem gambling rates for other activities covered by the survey ranged from 2.7% to 12.7%.Whenever the Gambling Commission have had concerns they have been quick to take action. In 2020, the Gambling Commission commissioned research to better understand the players of Interactive Instant Win Games. The research found an association between players of Interactive Instant Win Games at the £10 price point and some problem gambling behaviours. As a result of this research, the operator withdrew all £10 IIWGs from circulation.

BetIndex

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will provide redress to the people affected by the collapse of BetIndex Limited, the operators of Football Index.

Chris Philp: The Government appreciates the significant impact that the collapse of the novel gambling product Football Index had on former customers. BetIndex, the company which operated Football Index, went into liquidation on 5 November. The process is continuing and it is likely that this will result in some amounts being reimbursed to creditors. There is no compensation scheme for losses caused by a gambling firm ceasing to operate and the government does not think it would be appropriate to use public funds for these purposes.

Football: Non-fungible Tokens

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications of footballers advertising non-fungible tokens to fans.

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of engagement in fan token cryptocurrencies.

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the ongoing Gambling Review White Paper will look into the engagement of fan token cryptocurrencies.

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential risks of sports sponsorship by cryptocurrency platforms.

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate the Government has made of the value of front-of-shirt football team sponsorships by cryptocurrency platforms.

Chris Philp: I am aware of the growth in commercial partnerships between cryptocurrencies and professional sport. On 18 January 2022, the government set out its intention to legislate later this year to bring certain cryptoassets into financial promotion regulation. The FCA has also publicly consulted on its detailed rules for the regime. This would ensure that relevant cryptoasset promotions are held to the same high standards for fairness, clarity and accuracy that pertain in the financial services industry.Cryptocurrencies are not within the legal definition of gambling in themselves and therefore are not in scope of the Gambling Act Review.

Television Licences: Fees and Charges

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the level of public support for the television licence fee.

Julia Lopez: The licence fee funding model was last considered as part of Charter Review 2015-16. The BBC Charter Review consultation received over 192,000 responses and found the majority of respondents did not want to see a change in the way that the BBC is funded: 60% thought the current licence fee model did not need to be changed.As a result, the government has committed to maintain the current licence fee funding model for the duration of this eleven year Charter period, until 2027.However, as the Secretary of State has said, due to the changing landscape of the broadcasting sector and viewing trends, it is time to begin asking serious questions about the long-term funding model of the BBC. The Government will therefore undertake a review of the overall licence fee model and those discussions will begin shortly.

Mass Media: Emergencies

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the conclusions of the debate entitled Role of the media in times of crisis which occurred at the Council of Europe between 24 and 28 January 2022; and whether she plans to take steps in response to that debate.

Julia Lopez: This Government recognises the vital role of the media in supporting our communities and our democracy through the provision of reliable and high-quality information. The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the value of accurate information and trusted news sources in times of crisis. We are currently considering the conclusions of the Council of Europe debate, which rightly highlighted the importance of a strong, pluralistic, and independent media ecosystem in times of crisis.We recognise the crucial work of the Council of Europe and in particular the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in this sphere, noting that recommendations will go to the Committee of Ministers in due course for appropriate review.

Prime Minister

Prime Minister: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his Oral Statement of 31 January 2022 on Sue Gray Report, what estimate he has made of the projected full-time equivalent head count of staff to be working at the Office of the Prime Minister.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral contribution of 31 January 2022, what mechanisms he will introduce to ensure the accountability of the new Office of the Prime Minister to Parliament.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral contribution of 31 January 2022, which Select Committee the Office of the Prime Minister will be subject to scrutiny by.

David Linden: To ask the Prime Minister, if he will make it his policy to establish a standing permanent select committee of the House to scrutinise his proposed Office of Prime Minister, as announced on 31 January 2022.

Boris Johnson: I announced to the House my intention to create an Office of the Prime Minister. Further details will be announced in due course. As Prime Minister, I am held to account each week at Prime Minister's Questions, answer written questions, and appear before the Liaison Committee at regular intervals.The establishment and terms of reference of individual Select Committees is a matter for the House.

Investigation into Alleged Gatherings on Government Premises during Covid Restrictions

Jon Trickett: To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to the Cabinet Office report entitled Investigation into alleged gatherings on Government premises during covid restrictions - update, published 31 January 2022, if he will commit to publishing the transcripts of interviews of over 70 people conducted by Sue Gray as part of the investigation for that report.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Prime Minister, Cabinet Office report entitled Investigation into alleged gatherings on Government premises during covid restrictions - update, published on 31 January 2022, if he will commit to publishing the (a) emails, (b) WhatsApp messages, (c) text messages, (d) photographs and (e) building entry and exit logs identified by Sue Gray as part of the investigation for that report.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to the Cabinet Office report entitled Investigation into alleged gatherings on Government premises during covid restrictions - update published on 31 January 2022, if he will publish the independent advice as to the process for the investigation provided by the Treasury Solicitor and Daniel Stillitz QC.

Boris Johnson: It would not be appropriate to comment further while the Metropolitan Police Service’s investigation is ongoing. At the end of the process I will ask the Second Permanent Secretary to update her findings, which will be published in line with the terms of reference.

10 Downing Street

Jon Trickett: To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to the Cabinet Office report entitled Investigation into alleged gatherings on Government premises during covid restrictions - update published on 31 January 2022, if he will publish existing policy governing consumption of alcohol at 10 Downing Street.

Boris Johnson: The Civil Service Code governs the overarching conduct of civil servants. This includes the requirement to “always act in a way that is professional”.The Government has accepted the Second Permanent Secretary’s general findings in full. As the published update states, steps must be taken “to ensure that every Government Department has a clear and robust policy in place covering the consumption of alcohol in the workplace.”

Members: Correspondence

Angela Rayner: To ask the Prime Minister, whether he plans to respond to the letter of 29 June 2021 from the Rt hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne on statements by his official spokesperson.

Boris Johnson: A reply was sent by my Hon Friend the then Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office on 13 August 2021 by email to the Rt Hon Member’s Parliamentary email address.

Ministers: Codes of Practice

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to the response of the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion during the oral statement of 31 January 2022 on the Investigation into alleged gatherings on Government premises during covid restrictions – update, what changes he plans to make to the Ministerial Code and its implementation; and if he will make a statement.

Boris Johnson: I would refer the Hon. Member to my exchange of letters with the Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests, published on 6 January and placed in the Library of the House. The Government will outline any changes in due course.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Allotments

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Minister of State for Housing and Planning on including in the Planning Bill requirements for local authorities to plan for the provision of allotments.

Rebecca Pow: Ministers are considering how to best take forward proposals for planning reform, and an announcement on next steps will be made in due course. The importance of local green spaces, including allotments, community gardens and orchards, is well established. They can help to bring about long-term improvements in people's health and wellbeing and promote local social interaction, as well as providing wider benefits for nature and the environment.

Hunting: Regulation

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of amending the Hunting Act to reduce the incidence of foxes being killed; and what steps he is taking to ban trail hunting on Government-owned land.

Rebecca Pow: Our manifesto was clear that no changes will be made to the Hunting Act. The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs, except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law. Issuing a license or giving permission for trail hunting is an operational matter for the landowner and those organisations with a land lease or agreement in place for Government land.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: UN Convention On Biological Diversity

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2021 to Question 111517, how many (a) Government Ministers will join the UK delegation to COP15 led by Minister Goldsmith and (b) staff are in the core team working on COP15 in his Department.

Rebecca Pow: Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we expect a delay to the planned COP15 dates of 25 April to 8 May. Minister Goldsmith will head the UK delegation, and attendance by other UK Government Ministers will be confirmed when revised dates for COP15 are available.Defra is the lead department for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Cabinet Office. The core team dedicated to working on CBD in Defra is comprised of 21 staff. This team works closely with teams across Defra and its specialist arm's-length bodies, other Government departments, civil society organisations, and wider society. This includes the support of hundreds of staff in the Government’s wider diplomatic service.

Trapping

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact of the use of snares on the populations of non-targeted animals.

Rebecca Pow: When used improperly, snares can cause immense suffering to both target and non-targeted animals. The use of snares is therefore an issue we are looking at closely as part of our continued drive to maintain the highest animal welfare standards in the world. Through the Government's Animal Action for Welfare Plan, published in May 2021, we are looking at whether changes need to be made to reflect concerns raised. There is already a Code of Practice for the use of snares to control foxes in England which sets out clear principles for the legal and humane use of snares. The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 also prohibits the setting of any type of snare in places where they are likely to catch certain non-target animals such as badgers.

Seed Potatoes: Exports

David Duguid: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress he has made on securing the ability of the UK to export seed potatoes to the EU.

Victoria Prentis: This issue was discussed with the EU at the Trade Specialised Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, formed as part of the new Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the UK and EU, in September 2021. The conclusion was to hold technical talks on the EU’s prohibition, which are expected to take place during February. Given that our regime already aligns substantially with the EU’s, we will continue to challenge the European Commission to reconsider its position in line with its own regulations.

Food: Imports

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department will take to ensure equivalence of welfare, environmental and traceability standards in current and future trade deals that are relevant to food and drink imports.

Victoria Prentis: As set out in our manifesto, we will not compromise on our high environmental, animal welfare and food safety standards in trade negotiations. All agri-food products imported into the UK under existing or future free trade agreements will, as now, have to comply with our import requirements. A range of Government departments, agencies and bodies continue to ensure that standards are met including the Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, The Veterinary Medicines Directorate and Health and Safety Executive. In addition, since our exit from the EU we have created new functions to ensure imports meet our high standards. For example, the UK Office for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Trade Assurance has been set up within Defra to coordinate trade assurance in the UK for live animals and animal products. It will ensure trading partners meet the requirement of the UK’s biosecurity and SPS assurance regimes. Further details on how our trade deals are consistent with the UK’s high environment, animal and plant health and animal welfare standards will be set out in the Government’s report on each trade deal as required under Section 42 of the Agriculture Act 2020. The independent Trade and Agriculture Commission is also established and will provide advice on these areas to further assist Parliamentarians in their scrutiny of future trade deals.

Agriculture: Further Education

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what additional support his Department is providing to agricultural colleges to ensure that there is the workforce needed for the future.

Victoria Prentis: The Government wants to ensure that we have a sufficiently and appropriately skilled agricultural workforce able to meet the demands of the industry, and we engage regularly with representatives of the land-based education sector. We are supporting the establishment of The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH) to ensure that the future workforce is supported in terms of learning and skills. Part of TIAH’s role will be to create clear career development pathways and promote the sector as a progressive, professional, and attractive career choice.  Regarding funding for agricultural courses, we recognise that certain programmes in the land-based sector, when delivered in specialist settings, are particularly costly to deliver. Our funding rates for both young people and adults reflect this. For example, agricultural colleges could receive up to 75% more funding for each young person on an agricultural course, compared with the standard rate for other college courses. The Chancellor announced on 27 October 2021 that we are investing an extra £1.6 billion for 16-19 education in 2024-25 compared with the 2021-22 financial year. This means an investment of up to £615 million in the 2022-23 financial year and is much needed support for our excellent FE sector. This follows the extra £691 million allocated in the previous two years.

Food: Waste

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to place Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 on Global Food Loss and Waste into law to help the UK tackle food waste.

Jo Churchill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 January 2022 to the hon. Member for Putney, PQ UIN 97159.

Paper: Recycling

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to support and promote the recycling of paper.

Jo Churchill: All local authorities in England currently offer a kerbside collection service for paper and card. To ensure that we recycle more paper and card, as well as other materials, we are seeking to make recycling easier by ensuring that there is a comprehensive, consistent service across England. Following support at public consultation, the Environment Act 2021 stipulates that all local authorities, and other waste collectors, in England must make arrangements for a core set of materials to be collected for recycling from households, businesses and non-domestic premises (including paper and card). These measures will improve the quality and quantity of materials collected for recycling and increase public confidence in the recycling system. In 2021 we published a second consultation on consistency recycling collections. This consultation closed on 4 July and sought views on increasing consistency in recycling, including the specific materials that are in scope of collection in the paper and card waste stream. We are currently analysing responses to the consultation and intend to publish our response in due course.

Environmental Protection

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the compatibility of Government environmental and planning policies.

Rebecca Pow: Defra and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) work closely on planning policy to ensure it aligns with our ambitious environmental commitments. This includes supporting our statutory targets to be set through the Environment Act 2021. Local Nature Recovery Strategies and biodiversity net gain are just two of the many ways in which we are ensuring greater complementarity. Public bodies, including Local Planning Authorities, will need to have regard to Local Nature Recovery Strategies, a new England-wide system of spatial strategies to drive nature’s recovery and provide wider environmental benefits. Defra and DLUHC are also working closely together on the implementation of biodiversity net gain to ensure it is fully integrated into the new planning system, including in Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.

Women and Equalities

Equality and Human Rights Commission: Public Appointments

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress she has made on the appointment of the Equality and Human Rights Commissioner for Wales.

Mike Freer: The recruitment campaign for a Wales Commissioner for the EHRC was launched on 23 July 2021 and closed on 3 September 2021.Applications have been assessed through an independent and impartial process, which was conducted in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments. We will make an announcement once an appointment has been made.

Minister for Women and Equalities: Correspondence

Jessica Morden: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what her Department's average response time was to an enquiry from a hon. Member to the MP (a) hotline and (b) account management team in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.

Mike Freer: The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from MPs, either directly or on behalf of their constituents. The Equality Hub does not have an MP hotline or an account management team.The correspondence team does not hold information on the average response time to enquiries from MPs, as correspondence performance is monitored by the percentage of correspondence responded to within the target response time set by the Department.Data on the timeliness of responses to correspondence from MPs and Peers for 2019 and 2020 is published on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers. Data for 2021 will be published by the Cabinet Office in due course.

Hate Crime: LGBT People

John Howell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the report presented to and discussed with the Council of Europe at its meeting between 24 and 29 January 2022 entitled Combating rising hate speech against LGBTI people in Europe, what assessment she has made of the implications of the conclusions of that report for her policies; and whether she plans to take steps in response to those conclusions.

Mike Freer: We are aware of the Council of Europe’s recent report on LGBT+ people. We are fully committed to supporting the rights of all LGBT+ people and are clear that all forms of hate crime are completely unacceptable.Unlike many of the other countries criticised in this report, the UK has robust legal protections in place to protect LGBT+ people and enable them to get on with life including Hate Crime legislation, the Equality Act 2010 and equal marriage, but we know there is more to do.The Home Office will shortly be publishing a new Hate Crime Strategy to set out the Government’s plan for tackling these abhorrent crimes and will respond to recommendations set out by the Law Commission in due course.